An investigation we don’t need [UPDATED]

Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, will investigate Andrew McCabe’s claim that Rod Rosenstein raised the possibility of ousting President Trump via the 25th Amendment. Graham called McCabe’s statement “beyond stunning.”

If true, McCabe’s statement is stunning. But in order to justify an investigation, there should be some reason to believe the statement is true.

McCabe is a liar. The DOJ’s inspector general so concluded, citing multiple McCabe falsehoods. McCabe was fired as a result. Prosecutors are considering whether to bring criminal charges against him.

McCabe’s claim that it was Rosenstein, not McCabe, who raised the possibility of ousting Trump is implausible. I’m no fan of Rosenstein, but consider the context. According to McCabe, these were prompted by Trump’s firing of James Comey. Rosenstein had recommended Comey’s discharge.

Which official do you suppose was riled up enough by the sacking of Comey to contemplate ousting Trump? Was it Rosenstein, who was on board with Trump’s decision or McCabe, who was a close ally of Comey?

The answer is obvious. In fact, McCabe admits that, as acting FBI director, he opened an investigation into Trump. If anyone wanted to oust Trump, it was McCabe. It doesn’t take an investigation to figure that out.

It’s true, as Graham says, that “McCabe went on national television and he made an accusation that floored me.” But the standard for a congressional investigation shouldn’t be the “national television” test. CBS put a known liar on national television for its own reasons — to gain audience share and prop up an arch-enemy of President Trump.

If Graham investigates McCabe’s implausible and self-serving allegations, it will be for his own reasons — an opportunity to preen and to curry favor with Donald Trump.

UPDATE: President Trump is running with McCabe’s allegation against Rosenstein. He tweeted:

Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged. He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught…..

To call this tweet incoherent would be generous. In one breath, Trump calls McCabe a liar and says his story is “deranged.” In the next breath, Trump adopts McCabe’s story, saying that it looks like Rosenstein was planning an illegal act (Trump’s ouster via the 25th Amendment).

This is a president who will say almost anything.

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