Here are my (perhaps unconventional) thoughts on the McCabe departure today. I’m not a TV pundit but I did work @ #DOJ for 18 yrs, 15 of which I was employment counsel for DOJ. McCabe is career SES/not political. They couldn’t remove/fire him unless they all reached agreement. /1
I suspect new General Counsel Dana Boente worked on a settlement agreement over weekend to get McCabe to resign in return for McCabe getting to use paid administrative leave + benefits so that he won’t take financial hit. McCabe would have agreed to stop work & depart early. /2
It is not unusual to reach this type of agreement with an employee you need to get out of the office. Although usually the employee would be a poor performer and usually you couldn’t pay him for not working for more than 10 days per DOJ policy. Firing McCabe would be illegal. /3
Basically, when someone is gonna depart anyway, you expedite their departure by saying don’t come back but we will pay you. Again, usually for problem employees — not McCabe type. I don’t find McCabe leaving earlier than planned as so crazy today. Not panicking. /4
As many know, I have consistently said that Chris Wray wanting a new Deputy is not unusual. At all. It is in the usual course that leadership brings in their own team, and McCabe has helped Wray transition and get his sea legs long enough. /5
Pushing out McCabe is like throwing fresh meat to the wolves. It is an easy one to do, McCabe will be fine, and if it will calm the savage beast for a time, it is a no-brainer for Team Trump. Emphasis on McCabe will be fine. I saw similar dynamic w Fast & Furious under Holder. /6
With Fast & Furious, under Holder DOJ, the White House and DOJ and Holder got hit repeatedly by the Hill Republicans, and at some point, someone had to be the fall guy. It was my friend/former colleague Jason Weinstein. Jason was a long-time career prosecutor who “resigned.” /7
The bottom line is that every thing we know about Trump and his advisors shows us that they are trying to manage him, his rage and reign him in. IMHO, they can assuage his rage & paranoia by saying to McCabe, it’ll be easier on all if you just go early. Is any of this normal? /8
Of course not. But to me this makes the most sense as to why McCabe is fall guy, & why it happened early and caught FBI and others off guard. The good news: McCabe has much more time for Mueller now. I’m not panicked. I hope you won’t be either. /END
