Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday night, citing an Inspector General report which said that he made “an unauthorized disclosure to the news media” about a potential investigation into the Clinton Foundation shortly before the 2016 election.
McCabe — whose wife received $700,000 from longtime Clinton political operative Terry McAuliffe’s political action committee during her bid for a Virginia Senate seat in 2015 — was one of the officials overseeing the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private, unsecured e-mail server during her tenure as secretary of State. The investigation resulted in no criminal charges for Clinton. Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly had begun drafting a letter exonerating Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing several months before the bureau even interviewed her.
Donald Trump took to Twitter to praise Sessions’s decision to fire McCabe just two days before he was reportedly planning to retire, calling it a “great day for hard working men and women of the FBI.”
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
In a statement released Friday night, McCabe took a page from the Comey playbook, saying that his firing is part of a larger scheme to tar the credibility of law enforcement and special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe.
“This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally,” McCabe said in statement. “It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work.”
Former CIA director John Brennan threw shade at Trump, saying he will be remembered as a “disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.”
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018
Trump’s personal attorney called for the ongoing probe into whether or not Trump colluded with Russian officials to sway the election in his favor in a statement released Saturday morning:
I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt dossier.
McCabe reportedly kept notes detailing his conversations with President Trump, according to unnamed sources who are “familiar with the case.”
