WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe late Friday night—McCabe took over the agency following President Trump’s firing of director James Comey.
The news comes just two days before McCabe was set to retire and become eligible for full pension benefits. Sunday is also McCabe’s 50th birthday.
“Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately,” Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
“I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey,” McCabe said in a statement. “This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort … to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally.”
FULL STATEMENT:
BREAKING: Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe fired, just days before retirement on Sunday – Washington Post
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 17, 2018
From May 9, 2017, to August 2, 2017, McCabe was the Acting Director of the FBI after James Comey was dismissed by President Donald Trump. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated that McCabe was one of several candidates under consideration for Director. President Trump ultimately chose Christopher A. Wray, the former Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, to succeed Comey. Once Wray was sworn in, McCabe returned to the position of Deputy Director.
On January 29, 2018, McCabe stepped down from his position as Deputy Director of the FBI.
Trump has repeatedly criticized McCabe, and in January 2018 it was reported that Attorney General Sessions had been pressuring FBI Director Wray to fire McCabe. However, Wray refused and reportedly threatened to resign if McCabe was removed.
Some Trump supporters have characterized McCabe as belonging to a secretive “deep state” that seeks to subvert the president.
