Deputy FBI Director McCabe steps down: reports

The Hill ^ | 1/29/2017 | Avery Anapol

[Signalman]

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was expected to retire in the coming months, is stepping down, according to multiple reports.

A career civil servant who was appointed deputy director in 2016, McCabe has been a frequent target of Republicans alleging systemic bias against President Trump at the top tiers of the bureau.

McCabe oversaw the controversial investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. The GOP has accused him of a conflict of interest in that case because his wife accepted nearly $500,000 in political donations from Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe in a state legislature bid that predated the investigation.

The Washington Post first reported McCabe's intention to retire when he became eligible for pension benefits, in early March. Trump, who has been among McCabe's fiercest critics, characterized the move as "racing the clock to retire with full benefits."

A spokesperson for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump as early as July had called for McCabe's ouster, demanding, "Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation?"

"How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?" he tweeted in December.

As a civil servant, McCabe cannot be fired without clear evidence of wrongdoing.

According to documents release by the bureau in November, although McCabe recused himself from state corruption cases in Virginia as a result of his wife's candidacy, he was not warned by bureau officials to step back from the Clinton investigation.

Then the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office, McCabe "provided personnel resources" to the email investigation but "was not told what the investigation was about" until he was appointed deputy director—months after the Virginia election had concluded.

McCabe briefly ran the bureau after Trump fired former director James Comey, prior to the appointment of current director Chris Wray.

He has weathered one of the most controversial periods in the FBI's history, as Republicans have continued to argue that it inappropriately tried to tip the scale in Clinton's favor in the 2016 election.

He skyrocketed back into the public view after a series of texts from a former member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team added fuel to Republican claims of bias at the bureau.

The agent, Peter Strzok, disparaged political figures of both parties in the texts, including Trump, whom he called an “idiot.” The agent was removed from Mueller's team earlier this year.

Republicans are also seeking to make public a controversial memo authored by committee chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) alleging surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice. McCabe is reported to be mentioned by name in the document.

“Andrew McCabe cuts across every facet of every investigation in 2016 that your viewers are interested in from Secretary Clinton’s emails to the investigation into the Trump campaign,” Gowdy told Fox News in December.

[RoosterRedux]

Bigly.

[lakecumberlandvet]

I suppose McCabe just can’t wait to start writing his book. Hopefully, he’ll be doing it from the confines of a prison cell.

[deport]

Andrew McCabe Steps Down at F.B.I. in Widely Expected Move
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/us/politics/andrew-mccabe-fbi.html

WASHINGTON — Andrew G. McCabe has stepped down as the F.B.I.’s
deputy director, a move that was widely expected as he has repeatedly
come under fire from Republicans in Congress and from President Trump.

Mr. McCabe made his intentions known to colleagues on Monday, an
American official said. He will immediately go on leave and plans
to retire when he becomes eligible in mid-March.

[cherry]

oh goody....another federali govt worker being paid with a pension probably twice what most Americans make and we have to be taxed for it.....

[rrrod]

Got rope?

[PMAS]

Supposedly will be release tonight.

Didn’t you see the #ReleaseTheMemo all over the place this past week ?

[Vic S]

Got rope? ----

[sphinx]

One of the worst I ever heard of was a company back home that had decided to pull the plug on a major project. This was highly confidential until the ax dropped. On the day appointed, the project staff were all transported to an off-site meeting, where nice things were said and then they were all fired ... nothing personal, you understand, and we'll give you a package and good references, but this is over. As of now.

The employees were not permitted to return to the office. Personal items were boxed up and delivered, and any necessary discussions with HR took place elsewhere.

I understand that companies need to be concerned about distraught and perhaps vengeful employees. In this day and age, I can certainly understand taking down computer access on the company system without notice; in theory it only takes a few seconds to download X or erase Y. But there are decent and indecent ways of doing things. Most managers aren't jerks, but there are enough jerks around to generate no end of stories.

[matthew fuller]

Trump’s Pentagon wants to spend almost $500 million on Guantánamo construction
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article168273127.html

[Vermont Lt]

$500k? Open sides tents and slit trench toilets. And that’s for the women. The men get a blanket.

[piasa]

Enough with the Gitmo crap already. No US citizen guilty of white collar crime’s going to Gitmo.

[jjotto]

Blasphemer! You’re undermining a whole FR religion!

[piasa]

LOL! Religion? I guess it is. I Was just looking at another thread where a Momma’s basement dweller was lovingly describing McCabe being executed by hanging.

Talk about high expectations...

[ridesthemiles]

Hopefully, they all will be in Gitmo.