Simone Lawson
In 2015, Jill McCabe, a paediatric emergency physician and wife of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, ran for Virginia's state Senate as a Democrat. Her campaign received a total of $467,500 in contributions from Common Good VA, a political action committee controlled by then-Governor Terry McAuliffe, a close ally of the Clintons. This has sparked controversy and speculation about potential conflicts of interest, as Andrew McCabe was involved in the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified emails. President Donald Trump has publicly criticised the McCabes, suggesting that Jill McCabe's campaign contributions may have influenced her husband's handling of the Clinton investigation. However, Jill McCabe has defended herself, stating that her campaign ended before her husband's involvement in the Clinton probe.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of Andrew McCabe's Wife | Jill McCabe |
| Andrew McCabe's Position | Acting Director of the FBI |
| Donor | Terry McAuliffe |
| Amount Donated | $467,500 |
| Donor's Position | Former Governor of Virginia |
| Donor's Political Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Donor's Relationship with the Clintons | Loyal supporter and longtime friend and fundraiser |
| Recipient's Campaign | Jill McCabe's 2015 campaign for Virginia state Senate |
| Recipient's Relationship with Donor | None |
| Outcome of Jill McCabe's Campaign | Lost to Republican incumbent Dick Black |
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What You'll Learn
Jill McCabe's political campaign for Virginia's state Senate in 2015
Jill McCabe, a paediatric emergency physician, ran for Virginia's state Senate in 2015. She was a Democratic candidate for District 13 of the Virginia State Senate. She had no previous political experience and lost the election to Republican incumbent Dick Black.
McCabe's campaign ended before her husband, Andrew McCabe, had any oversight of the FBI probe into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified emails. Andrew McCabe was the deputy director of the FBI and was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018.
President Trump has targeted Jill McCabe and her family, hinting that there was something nefarious about her accepting a campaign contribution from the former Democratic governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe. In 2015, McAuliffe's political action committee, Common Good VA, gave Jill McCabe's campaign $467,500 in campaign contributions. The state party, also linked to McAuliffe, contributed about $207,000 worth of mailers. In total, her campaign received the third most of any state senate campaign from McAuliffe-controlled sources.
Some have questioned whether Jill McCabe's campaign influenced her husband's work at the FBI, as she accepted campaign contributions from a loyal Clinton supporter, McAuliffe, who is a close ally and longtime fundraiser for the Clintons. However, McCabe has stated that her husband's involvement in the Clinton investigation occurred only after the contributions were made to her campaign and after the race was over. She also said that she would have found it alarming and likely pulled out of the campaign if Clinton's emails had come up during her campaign.
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Andrew McCabe's firing and Trump's charges
Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director, was fired by then-President Donald Trump in 2018, just hours before his retirement. Trump celebrated the dismissal on Twitter, calling it a "great day for the hard-working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy".
McCabe then sued the FBI and the Justice Department over his firing, arguing that it was part of Trump's plan to rid the bureau of leaders he perceived as disloyal. The lawsuit also contended that the stated reason for the firing—that McCabe had misled investigators over his involvement in a news media leak—was false, and that the real reason was “his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single man”.
The charges in question refer to Trump's accusations that McCabe's wife, Jill McCabe, had improperly accepted a campaign contribution from the former Democratic governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe. Jill McCabe, a paediatric emergency physician, ran for Virginia's state Senate in 2015, and lost to Republican Dick Black. McAuliffe's political action committee, Common Good VA, gave her campaign $467,500 in contributions, while the state party chipped in about $207,000 worth of mailers.
Trump and his supporters implied that the contributions were a case of a Clinton ally buying influence with a high-ranking FBI official through a political donation to his wife. However, there is no evidence that McCabe's firing had anything to do with his wife's political career. In fact, Jill McCabe's campaign ended before her husband had any oversight of the FBI probe into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified emails. McCabe himself has stated that his involvement in the Clinton investigation came after the contributions were made to his wife's campaign and after the race was over.
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Trump's bullying of McCabe's wife
In 2015, Jill McCabe, a paediatric emergency physician and the wife of then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, ran for Virginia's state Senate. She lost the election to Republican incumbent Dick Black. During her campaign, Jill McCabe received $467,500 in campaign contributions from Common Good VA, the political action committee of former Virginia governor Terry McCauliffe, a Democrat and close ally of the Clintons. In total, her campaign received the third most of any state senate campaign from McAuliffe-controlled sources.
In 2016, after the election, Andrew McCabe was promoted to the No. 2 position at the FBI under then-director James Comey, and joined the executive leadership team overseeing the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails. McCabe's involvement in the Clinton investigation came after the contributions were made to his wife's campaign.
In 2018, President Donald Trump accused Andrew McCabe of treason and claimed that he had lied about Trump calling Jill McCabe a "loser" after she lost her 2015 bid for a Virginia state Senate seat. Trump also criticised Jill McCabe for accepting campaign donations from the Clintons, tweeting:
> "I never said anything bad about Andrew McCabe's wife other than she (they) should not have taken large amounts of campaign money from a Crooked Hillary source when Clinton was under investigation by the FBI. I never called his wife a loser to him (another McCabe made up lie)!"
Trump's comments were described by McCabe as "bullying". In a Washington Post op-ed, Jill McCabe wrote that Trump had targeted her family and spread "destructive lies". She also said that she had wanted a "chance to tell her story" and "defend herself".
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Jill McCabe's response to Trump's attacks
Jill McCabe, an emergency room pediatrician and the wife of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, has called out President Donald Trump for his public attacks on her family, which culminated in her husband's firing. In a Washington Post op-ed, she described the attacks as a nightmare and said she wanted to tell her story and defend herself.
McCabe ran for Virginia's state Senate in 2015. Her campaign received $467,500 in contributions from Common Good VA, a political action committee controlled by then-Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat and longtime Clinton ally. The state party, also tied to McAuliffe, provided about $207,000 worth of mailers. In total, her campaign was the third-largest recipient of funding from McAuliffe-controlled sources during that election cycle.
Trump and his supporters have insinuated that the large contributions from a Clinton ally were intended to buy influence with McCabe's husband, who was then a high-ranking FBI official overseeing an investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified emails. However, Jill McCabe has refuted these claims, stating that her campaign "received funding from the state Democratic Party and the governor's PAC" that was "on par with what other candidates in competitive races on both sides of the aisle received." She also emphasised that her husband's involvement in the Clinton investigation occurred after the contributions were made and the race was over.
McCabe wrote that she decided to run for office because she wanted to help people and make a difference. She expressed frustration at the attacks on her personal reputation and integrity, stating that they were part of a larger effort to discredit the FBI and law enforcement professionals. She also noted that the claims against her were false and utterly absurd and that she now aims to speak freely and set the record straight.
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The Clinton email investigation
The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server during her time as Secretary of State was a highly publicised and controversial episode in the 2016 US presidential election.
Clinton came under scrutiny for using a private email server for official communications, rather than official State Department email accounts. The FBI investigation, led by then-FBI Director James Comey, sought to determine whether classified information had been improperly stored or transmitted on Clinton's personal system, in violation of federal statutes.
The investigation found that Clinton had used several different servers and numerous mobile devices to access her personal email domain during her tenure. It was a complex and painstaking process to piece together the email history, requiring thousands of hours of work. The FBI ultimately concluded that while Clinton had been "extremely careless", there was no evidence that she had sought approval for her email setup from State Department staff, and no charges were recommended as she did not act with criminal intent.
However, the State Department's Inspector General Steve A. Linick released an 83-page report in May 2016, which contradicted Clinton's previous statements. It found that she had not complied with department policies and that she had not sought approval for her email setup, which would have been denied due to security risks. The report also stated that Clinton and her senior aides declined to speak with investigators.
The timing of Comey's statements regarding the investigation was also contentious. On October 28, 2016, just 11 days before the election, he notified Congress that the FBI was reviewing newly discovered emails. On November 6, he announced that the FBI's conclusion remained unchanged. Comey's actions were criticised as violating Department of Justice guidelines and prejudicing the public against Clinton.
The investigation into Clinton's emails also had an indirect connection to Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the FBI. McCabe's wife, Jill McCabe, ran for the state Senate in Virginia in 2015 and received campaign contributions from Terry McAuliffe, a close ally and fundraiser for the Clintons. This led to questions about a potential conflict of interest, as McCabe later oversaw the FBI probe into Clinton's emails. However, Jill McCabe's campaign ended before her husband's involvement in the Clinton investigation, and he recused himself from the probe.
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Frequently asked questions
Jill McCabe, the wife of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, received $467,500 from Common Good VA, the political action committee of then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
In total, Jill McCabe received $675,000 for her 2015 state senate campaign in Virginia. This included 207,788 from the Virginia Democratic Party.
No, Jill McCabe did not receive any campaign contributions from Hillary Clinton or her campaign.
Andrew McCabe became deputy director of the FBI in February 2016, after his wife's campaign and after the contributions were made. He did later assume an oversight role in the Clinton email investigation.
There is no evidence that the campaign contributions influenced Andrew McCabe's work. Jill McCabe has stated that the Clinton emails never came up during her campaign, and that she would have reported it and likely pulled out of the campaign if they had.
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