Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced late Friday that he had fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe – just days before McCabe’s retirement benefits would have set in.
“The F.B.I. expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability,” Sessions said in a statement. “I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately.”
Sessions said McCabe’s firing was the result of an “extensive and fair” probe of alleged misconduct, which concluded that he had made “an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions.”
Lack of candor is a fireable offense at the agency and an inspector general’s report appears to be at the center of McCabe’s dismissal.
The inspector general’s report faults Mr. McCabe for his lack of candor in interviews with internal investigators. The report has not been released, but people briefed on it say the allegations revolve around disclosures to The Wall Street Journal, which reported in October 2016 a dispute between the F.B.I. and the Justice Department over how to proceed in an investigation into the Clinton family’s foundation.
Using a Democrat Party talking point, McCabe said in a statement that his firing was intended to undermine the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong,” he said, adding, “This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness.”
The recommendation to fire McCabe didn’t come from the Attorney General, it came from F.B.I. disciplinary officials making his termination less about politics and more about maintaining the integrity of the F.B.I. after abuses by McCabe, James Comey, Peter Strzok, and Lisa Page came to light last year. Strzok and Page are the only two whose unethical conduct has not yet resulted in termination.
The FBI used the unverified and salacious Trump Dossier to get wiretap warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) against Trump campaign associate Carter page. The FBI admitted that the information in the Dossier was salacous and unverified.
While the president is not involved in personnel decisions at Andrew McCabe’s level he was quick to show how he felt about the termination.
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
