The Justice Department's inspector general issued a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. regarding its report that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied under oath about disclosing sensitive information to the media, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: McCabe's situation has been extremely politicized — notably, with President Trump not shy to voice his displeasure about him — but now, the allegations against him have been placed in the hands of nonpartisan federal investigators. In short, it's difficult to read anything from this development alone: this referral could mean McCabe gets charged with a crime, but it also could mean that he avoids charges completely.

McCabe and his lawyer Michael Bromwich have known about the referral for the past few weeks and have already met with members of the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to a statement. Bromwich added “the standard for an IG referral is very low" and they 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.”

More big takeaways from WaPo's report: