TIMING

Andrew McCabe Shops a Book as DOJ Refers Him for Criminal Charges

The Daily Beast can confirm that McCabe has called and met with publishers. But sources wonder whether a possible criminal probe could jeopardize the project.

Despite a looming criminal investigation, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe has been quietly shopping a book.

The Daily Beast can confirm that over the past several weeks, McCabe and his reps have been calling and meeting with publishers to discuss printing a book telling his side of the story amid a yearlong dispute with President Trump. The potential deal was first reported by The New York Times.

Although the Times reported that McCabe received offers from multiple publishers and had reached an agreement with one, two publishing industry sources told The Daily Beast that the book’s future could potentially be complicated by a possible criminal probe.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday referred McCabe to U.S. attorneys for possible criminal charges related to an inspector general’s findings that he “repeatedly misled” investigators about an FBI leak about the bureau’s probe of the Clinton Foundation.

But if McCabe does proceed with the book, he’ll have plenty of source material to work with. Like his former boss, ousted FBI Director James Comey, McCabe took copious notes of his interactions with Trump, who has publicly accused the ex-deputy of political bias and covering up alleged internal corruption.

The agreement would come on the heels of a slew of successful and controversial political books about the 2016 election and its massive repercussions. Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty, Hillary Clinton’s book What Happened, and former DNC chair Donna Brazile’s book Hacks all rocketed up The New York Times’ bestsellers list over the past year.

And given their potentially conflicting accounts of McCabe’s conduct, a book by the former FBI deputy could pit his account against those of his former boss Comey.

During an interview on CNN on Thursday, Comey said he could become a witness in a criminal case against McCabe. “Given that the IG's report reflects interactions that Andy McCabe had with me and other senior executives, I could well be a witness,” the ex-director said.

In a tweet after the interview, Trump seemed to relish a conflict between the two former top officials.

“James Comey just threw Andrew McCabe ‘under the bus.’ Inspector General’s Report on McCabe is a disaster for both of them! Getting a little (lot) of their own medicine?” he wrote.

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Maxwell TaniMedia reporter

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