Fired FBI official Andrew McCabe’s fate rests in the hands of a Trump-appointed prosecutor, now that the Justice Department’s inspector general has sent a criminal referral over an investigative finding that he lied to James Comey and bureau investigators about a media disclosure.

That referral, sent by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, is now being considered by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu. President Trump appointed Liu in July 2017.

“We were advised of the referral within the past few weeks,” McCabe’s counsel, Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, said in a statement. “Although we believe the referral is unjustified, the standard for an IG referral is very low. We have already met with staff members from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Bromwich added, “We are confident that, unless there is inappropriate pressure from high levels of the administration, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will conclude that it should decline to prosecute.”

McCabe, the former FBI deputy director, is not alone in facing IG problems. It emerged Friday that even Comey is the subject of an IG review over his handling of classified information in memos he penned. But McCabe faces greater risk now that the findings of his case have been referred to the U.S. attorney.

Liu is a Republican and has a long history of political donations to GOP candidates, according to Open Secrets political donation records, but it does not appear that she donated to Trump. – READ MORE