By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 16, 2018
A senior FBI official lied to the Justice Department inspector general about accepting free tickets from a broadcast journalist for professional sports events, but the official will not be prosecuted.
The official told the inspector general that he had paid for the tickets when they actually were provided for free, which violated federal regulations. The TV reporter’s beat was the FBI and the Justice Department.
The Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz released the report Tuesday, saying the unnamed senior official had retired.
The no-prosecute decision was met with scorn by conservatives, who have seen two of President Trump’s supporters prosecuted by the Justice Department for lying to the FBI. George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign volunteer, and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former White House national security adviser, both pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents.
“Total hypocrisy,†tweeted Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican. “DOJ prosecutes Mike Flynn and George Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI. But a senior FBI official accepted free gifts from a media member, lied to the FBI about it, and faces no prosecution. With the DOJ: ‘Lying to the FBI is a crime for thee — but not for me.’â€
The IG report said: “The OIG investigation substantiated, and the senior FBI official acknowledged, that the official accepted two tickets to a professional sports event from the TV correspondent without paying the correspondent for the tickets. The senior FBI official initially maintained to the OIG in an interview under oath that the official had paid for the tickets, but five days later admitted to the OIG that the official did not.â€
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/16/fbi-official-took-sports-tickets-journalist-lied-a/
