It is important to remember the Washington Post is the unofficial public relations outfit of the U.S. intelligence community: FBI, CIA, etc. When a leaked source, or insider release of information appears within the Washington Post, it is there by collaboration with the intelligence community.

That said, the story today about Assistant FBI Director Andrew McCabe planning to retire in March 2018, should be viewed as the WaPo attempting to create leverage for McCabe to retain his position up to his pension eligibility. It is NOT coincidental that Inspector General Michael Horowitz is planning to release his Year-Long OIG report outlining his investigative details into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.

This maneuver by “Andy” McCabe is similar to moves by his former boss James Comey. McCabe is trying to gain leverage over a pending IG report release and ongoing congressional investigations that recently have begun to run a parallel track. By publicizing his intent to leave the FBI ahead of all the investigative outcomes being public, McCabe is attempting to change his central disposition to the scandals.

The Washington Post report is shaped to deliver a specific narrative about Andrew McCabe and assist his positioning. The absence of any WaPo mention of the FBI counterintelligence operation, “The Trump Project”, including the absence of any mention of the FBI involvement in the Steele Dossier (FISA Warrants, Wiretaps and Surveillance), and the myriad of explosive issues therein, is evidence of WaPo’s motive:

WASHINGTON – Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.

McCabe spent hours in Congress this past week, facing questions behind closed doors from members of three committees. Republicans said they were dissatisfied with his answers; Democrats called it a partisan hounding. McCabe, 49, holds a unique position in the political firestorm surrounding the FBI. He was former director James B. Comey’s right-hand man, a position that involved him in most of the FBI’s actions that vex President Trump and in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, a matter that still riles Democrats. When Trump fired Comey in May, that meant McCabe had to stay — first to run the agency until a new director was in place and then to take the political heat for decisions made by his former boss. […] Within the agency, there is praise — but also some criticism — for how McCabe has handled his role. Still, he has become a lightning rod in the political storms now buffeting the bureau. Conservatives have called for heads to roll at the FBI, and McCabe is atop the lists of many. But current and former FBI officials said it would be dangerous to appease those demands. (read more)

Andrew McCabe has refused to answer specific questions about his relationship to the individual actions taken by the “small group” within the FBI and DOJ who carried out a political scheme to stop presidential candidate Hillary Clinton from facing prosecution and later to begin a counterintelligence operation against presidential candidate Donald Trump.

McCabe’s selective memory loss last week (House Intelligence Committee), when questioned about the Steele Dossier and how it was used by the FBI in getting a FISA warrant against the Trump campaign, is a clear indication Andrew McCabe understands his risk exposure; and is trying to remove himself from the transparently obvious conspiracy therein.

Because everything is now becoming so jaw-droppingly obvious; and because the media is now catching on to the scale and scope of the conspiracy; all of the central players, characters and co-conspirators are now entering a phase of evaluating their own risk profile and positioning.

The co-conspirators on the outside (Comey and Obama crew) are messaging to the insiders (small group still in FBI/DOJ) that they must remain steady in their objective to hide the multi-year political operations.