It was announced this afternoon that Assistant Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe has stepped down from his position and would use his leave time until March when he is eligible to retire. This follows months of pressure from Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, Laughably, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders denied Trump had any hand in McCabe’s decision. When pressed by CNN reporter Jim Acosta, Sarah put her foot in it and admitted this was al about the Mueller investigation into trump’s connections to Russian interference with the 2016 electikons.
CNN’s Jim Acosta “Sarah, what would you say to critics who believe that this White House and this president have had almost a steady pressure put on the Justice Department, put on the FBI since the president came into office, on this special counsel investigation, whether it be conversations with Jeff Sessions’ office about recusal, whether it be about the desire for Robert Mueller to go away, and now with Andrew McCabe.”
He continued, “There are even reports Rob Rosenstein was feeling pressure from the White House. It sounds like multiple officials are being pressured by the White House and the president. What would you say?”
Sanders got pissy and claimed the Trump administration went “above and beyond” and was being transparent and fully cooperative with the special counsel.
Acosta replied, “What about this notion that the president has been applying pressure for months, steady pressure?”
Sanders replied, “The only thing that the president has applied pressure to is make sure we to get this resolved so you guys and everyone else can focus on the things that Americans actually care about and that is making sure everybody gets the Russia fever out of their system once and for all, that you are all reminded once again there was no collusion, and that we can move forward to focus on things like national security…”
Trump’s dislike of McCagbe dates back to late 216 when reports surfaced that McCabe’s wife, a Democrat running for a seat in the Virginia state legislature, had accepted donations to her campaign from Hillary Clinton allies. In Trump’s paranoid mind. McCabe had been involved in the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private server and the Clinton Foundation. McCabe recused himself from Clinton related matters before the election. It was recently reported that Trump asked McCabe who he voted for in the 2016 election. Trump has openly vented on Twitter about McCabe and the FBI.
Meanwhile, Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee are debating releasing a four page classified memo put together by the chair Devon Nunes (R-CA) that supposedly would reveal FBI abuses in their use of FISA warrants.The Justice Department, The FBI and Democrats are objecting to its release claiming that it would undermine national security and is, in reality, another stunt by Nunes to undermine the Mueller investigation.
In Trump’s little world, he thnks that by getting rid of McCabe, Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein, he will end the investigation into the Russian connection and his obstruction of the probe.
This is going to be busy week.