McCabe Cancels Testimony, Something "Far More Sinister" With Fusion GPS

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe abruptly cancelled his closed door testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee as news emerged that the wife of Senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm which assembled the infamous “Trump dossier.” Ohr was demoted last week after allegedly trying to conceal his contacts with Fusion.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe

Fox News reporter Chad Pergram’s sources tell him “McCabe has an Ohr problem,” and they believe “FBI DepDir McCabe not coming to Hse Intel Cmte tomorrow because he’d be asked about Bruce Ohr & Ohr’s wife Nellie who worked for Fusion GPS,” adding “something far more sinister.”

Pergram also tweeted “Expect subpoenas to compel McCabe to appear this wk.”

Of note, House Intel Committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) announced last week that they were prepared to hold McCabe and assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in contempt for the DOJ’s failure to comply with a previous subpoena. He also accused the FBI and the DOJ of willfully refusing to comply with an Aug. 24 subpoena in part by refusing the committee’s request “for an explanation of Peter Strzok’s dismissal from the Mueller probe.”

Bruce and Nellie Ohr

As we reported yesterday, Nellie Ohr, the wife of disgraced DOJ official Bruce Ohr, was employed at Fusion GPS last year. Her term of employment overlapped with the period when the Trump dossier was being compiled. Though Fox was unable to discern the exact nature of her role at the firm, its reporters discovered that she has done extensive research on Russia-related topics for think tanks based in the Washington, DC area.

Fox News reports:

A senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official’s wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election.

Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. HPSCI staff confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.

Also notable is the fact that Bruce Ohr’s wife not only worked for Fusion GPS, but also represented the CIA’s “Open Source Works” group in a 2010 “expert working group report on international organized crime” along with Bruce Ohr and Fusion GPS co0founder Glenn Simpson.

Of note Open Source Works is described as the “CIA’s in-house open source analysis component, devoted to intelligence analysis of unclassified, open source information.” So – Nellie Ohr, the wife of recently demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr – worked for both Fusion GPS and the CIA. It is unclear whether her time at Fusion overlapped with her time at the CIA.

Open Source Works, which is the CIA’s in-house open source analysis component, is devoted to intelligence analysis of unclassified, open source information. Oddly, however, the directive that established Open Source Works is classified, as is the charter of the organization. In fact, CIA says the very existence of any such records is a classified fact. “The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request,” wrote Susan Viscuso, CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator, in a November 29 response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Jeffrey Richelson of the National Security Archive for the Open Source Works directive and charter.

“The fact of the existence or nonexistence of requested records is currently and properly classified and is intelligence sources and methods information that is protected from disclosure,” Dr. Viscuso wrote. This is a surprising development since Open Source Works — by definition — does not engage in clandestine collection of intelligence. Rather, it performs analysis based on unclassified, open source materials. –FAS

House investigators determined that during the 2016 election, Bruce Ohr met with former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, and shortly after the 2016 election he met with Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS – who commissioned Steele to assemble the dossier.

Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

Another factor in McCabe’s sudden cancellation is a report from The Hill‘s John Solomon that Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently interviewed a retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing the FBI’s findings to the larger intelligence community – despite knowing exactly who conducted the attack.

The agent found the instruction concerning because his unit had gathered incontrovertible evidence showing a major al Qaeda figure had directed the attack and the information had already been briefed to President Obama, the lawmaker said. –The Hill

If true, it means McCabe lied for the Obama administration in a clear, partisan violation of the FBI’s mandate to “detect and prosecute crimes against the United States,” not “lie for the President so as not to offend Islam.” As Rep. DeSantis told The Hill:

“What operational reason would there be to issue an edict to agents telling them, in the face of virtually conclusive evidence to the contrary, not to categorize the Benghazi attack as a result of terrorism? By placing the interests of the Obama administration over the public’s interests, the order is yet another data point highlighting the politicization of the FBI.”

Whether McCabe cancelled over his “Ohr problem,” or for instructing a retired FBI supervisor to lie about the Benghazi attack, or because he doesn’t want to talk about Peter Strzok’s dismissal from the Mueller probe – one thing is for sure; Devin Nunes can’t be happy, and we can probably expect subpoenas to start flying off his desk as soon as this morning.