DOJ lawyers assigned to special counsel Jack Smith on Trump case are the same ones who DECLINED to prosecute FBI official Andrew McCabe

In 2020, Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney, both top prosecutors on Jack Smith's legal team that decided to indict former President Donald Trump on conspiracy charges Tuesday, previously decided not to seek charges against former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe for allegedly lying under oath about investigations into the Clinton Foundation in 2016. 

On X, Journalist Julie Kelly noted that "All of a sudden. Jack Smith's top prosecutors in charge of the J6 case against Trump are very concerned about alleged 'lies' and 'false statements' by a top government official." She added, "Wasn't so long ago they looked the other way." 

The summary of findings from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz determined that McCabe lied three times under oath to FBI and Office of the Inspector General (OIG) agents about authorizing a leak to the Wall Street Journal "to advance his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership."

"[The] OIG found that then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lacked candor, including under oath, on multiple occasions in connection with describing his role in connection with a disclosure to the WSJ," he said in the report. 

In a letter to McCabe's attorney's informing them of their decision on February 14, 2020, Cooney and Gaston wrote, "We write to inform you that, after careful consideration, the Government has decided not to pursue criminal charges against your client, Andrew G. McCabe, arising from the referral by the Office of the Inspector General to our office of conduct described in OIG's April 13, 2018 report, entitled 'A Report of Allegations Relating to Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.'"

"Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the Government at this time, we consider the matter closed," the letter concluded. 

When the probe against McCabe was dropped, Donald Trump pointed to a double standard in who the Justice Department decides who to charge, as his associate Roger Stone was convicted of 'lying' the year prior. "So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come," he said. "Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?"

On Tuesday, Gaston and Cooney alongside Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted former President Trump on charges of alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted in regards to his role into the January 6, 2021, riot at the capital. 

On Friday, Jack Smith's team attempted to silence the former president about court proceedings after he posted on his platform Truth Social, "If you go after me, I'm coming for you!"