McCabe told the OIG that he recalled that Comey first mentioned the idea of doing an independent statement as “an aside, at either the beginning or the end of a meeting that we had...in his conference room.” McCabe said that Baker and Rybicki also were present, and that the group had been discussing where the investigation was going and what the end would look like “if we end up with nothing.” He said that Comey asked them, “[W]hat do you think about the prospect of just like me doing something solo?” McCabe stated:

"And I remember when he said it kind of looking at Rybicki. And the both of us are just kind of like, oh my God, you know? And I, I mean honestly I, I, at first blush I was like, whew, wow, that’s, that could go really wrong.... Because for, you know, for the obvious reason. It’s just so not what we do. And we thought...that would be a huge break with...protocol...and everything else." (page 215 of that file)

I was once a prosecutor. I worked with lead detectives jointly on investigations that on a couple of occasions lasted months as this one did. If my lead detective held a fucking press conference to announce that my office, through me, was not filing charges, that fucking lead detective would be an ex-lead detective checking parking meters in Hialeah. It is the prosecutor's office that makes charging decisions, not the fucking police department whether local, state, or federal. "That would be a HUGE BREAK WITH PROTOCOL" is right!