The FBI requires that agents go through the chain of command during investigations, but the IG report shows that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page reported directly to Andrew McCabe.
In that way, McCabe could control the investigation without letting anyone else in the chain of command know what was going on. This is the reason that rule exists, to prevent corruption, especially with someone as conflicted as Andrew McCabe. In this way, they were able to control what was known about the investigation. Strzok was the main interviewer of the top witnesses.
The method of communication involved FBI official Peter Strzok, who was romantically involved with Page, sending information on the Clinton probe to McCabe through Page, the report found.
Page and Strzok have been the subject of public controversy following revelations last December that they exchanged a series of anti-Trump text messages. Still more messages were revealed in the 500-plus page report released yesterday by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.
One section of the report focuses on Page’s special liaison role between the team investigating Clinton, known as the “Midyear team”, and McCabe. The method of communication resulted in information not being filtered through other FBI officials, and according to the report Page acknowledged that some within the FBI were upset by this setup.
The report reveals:
Lisa Page, who was Special Counsel to McCabe, became involved in the Midyear investigation after McCabe became the Deputy Director in February 2016. Page told the OIG that part of her function was to serve as a liaison between the Midyear team and McCabe. Page acknowledged that her role upset senior FBI officials, but told the OIG that McCabe relied on her to ensure that he had the information he needed to make decisions, without it being filtered through multiple layers of management.
Several witnesses told the OIG that Page circumvented the official chain of command and that Strzok communicated important Midyear case information to her, and thus to McCabe, without Priestap’s or Steinbach’s knowledge. McCabe said that he was aware of complaints about Page, and that he valued her ability to “spot issues” and bring them to his attention when others did not do so.
Clean up on floor seven, please.