“Let’s try this:
McCabe said he could release information on his own authority... which he did”
Let’s try this
That is not what McCabe said.
He said he released info to the Press with the “Directors Knowledge”.
“Director’s knowledge”
Oh... that’s bad.
But, for these hyper-parsers, it might not be bad enough.
Comey was asked if he had leaked, or authorized anyone to leak, to which he replied “Never” and “No”, respectively. If McCabe was authorized to disseminate to the press (i.e., leak) on his own authority and Comey knew about it, he still wouldn’t have leaked himself, or authorized someone else to do so. It’s this head of the pin bullshit that we’ve been exposed to for years.
Remember, I’m not arguing they aren’t dirty. It’s pretty clear to me that they’ve been in it together.
The situation reminds me of a scene in the James Clavell novel, “Shogun.” One of the big lord’s (Toronaga) sub-lords (daimyos) has been a traitorous creep. When questioned by Toronaga, he rejects the accusations and says, “There’s absolutely no proof.” Toronaga replies, “There’s no proof, but I believe you did it. Your lands are forfeit; please slit your belly before noon.”
I wish something like that could happen here, but at the moment I don’t see how.