'I am incredibly sorry': Emails show Andrew McCabe in crisis over media fallout from Clinton probe

On Monday, The Daily Beast and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reported a newly released trove of emails from 2016, revealing that then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fighting to contain the media fallout from reporting on the FBI's handling of their probe into Hillary Clinton's email server.

“In the more bad news category, Mike K informed me that Devlin Barrett at WSJ is putting together an article claiming I had a conflict of interest on MYR [Midyear, or the FBI codename for the email investigation] as a result of [my wife] Jill’s campaign connections to [Virginia Gov. and Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe],” wrote McCabe wrote. “I will work with mike to provide some basic facts to push back. And, as always, will keep you advised. I am incredibly sorry for adding to the drama on this.”

“Outstanding,” wrote back FBI Director James Comey. “Don’t sweat it.” McCabe then kept Comey posted on what he was contributing to the WSJ report.

The Clinton email investigation dominated media coverage throughout the 2016 campaign, and the letter from Comey that hinted the probe was still underway in late October has often been speculated as a major reason Clinton fell short in enough key states for Trump to win.

On the other side of the equation, Trump and his supporters have often asserted — with no evidence — that Comey and McCabe worked to quash the probe and help Clinton.

Federal prosecutors are examining whether McCabe broke the law by meeting with Justice Department lawyers about an investigation into his actions, and whether he made false statements to FBI agents about his discussions with the media on the Clinton investigations.