Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Wednesday he believes Andrew McCabe will soon be indicted on federal charges, based on reporting that the former FBI deputy director’s attorneys recently met with Justice Department officials.

Whitaker said in a Fox News interview that McCabe’s lawyers’ meeting with Deputy Attorney General [DAG] Jeffrey Rosen, which The New York Times reported Monday took place last week, appears to have been what’s known as a “DAG appeal.” (RELATED: Report: DOJ Close To Deciding Whether To Indict Andrew McCabe)

Whitaker said “sophisticated defense lawyers” ask for the meetings “to lay out your case as to why your client shouldn’t be charged.”

“I have not seen a DAG appeal be successful. I have seen them many times, again, with sophisticated defense lawyers, but this is usually when somebody is imminently going to be charged, they try to get to the deputy attorney general and plead their case,” said Whitaker, who was a U.S. attorney and chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

WATCH:

Whitaker oversaw the Justice Department while the agency was investigating whether McCabe lied to the FBI about his role in leaking information about an investigation of the Clinton Foundation to the media in October 2016.

The Justice Department’s inspector general referred McCabe for potential prosecution after finding he lacked candor during interviews with the watchdog and the FBI’s personnel office regarding his authorization of leaks to the media in October 2016 regarding the bureau’s investigation of the Clinton Foundation.

McCabe was fired March 16, 2018, for “lack of candor.” He joined CNN as a law enforcement analyst Aug. 23.

McCabe has denied lying to the FBI. He sued both the bureau and Justice Department on Aug. 8, alleging he was fired due to political pressure from President Donald Trump.

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