McCabe means liars. It had ever since eighth grade and it still does, reaching across the decades to plant just exactly the right idea in Bucky's head. Steve's up against another his-word-against-theirs scenario, something he can't solve by going in head-on, his least favorite kind.

"Investigated, huh?" Bucky looks a little dubious as he nods and takes a mental inventory of what he's got on him, makes sure he's ready to leave the room again. (Always know what you've got on you, he'd learned that lesson very early after the helicarriers.) He'd never been as good at helping Steve with those kinds of fights. "Okay, fill me in, I could eat."

The real question he's gonna need answered is, are these guys trying to shut Steve up, because that, Bucky can help with. He might not have the old level of strength in his metal arm, he'd found that out by testing its parameters and coming up short real fast, but no amount of brainwashing or gaslighting could trick him out of his old suspicious instincts.