FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has informed FBI staff that he is stepping down effective today. President Trump has been informed of the departure the White House says.
It was revealed last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been pressuring FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire McCabe. The pressure has gotten so bad in fact, that Wray threatened to resign if McCabe was removed, sources say. The White House, at the urging of senior advisers, has backed off, feeling that getting rid McCabe is not worth losing the FBI Director.
McCabe has faced criticism from Republicans, as well as the President himself, for actions taken by the Bureau in the Hillary Clinton investigation as well as the Trump/Russia investigation. The criticism intensified late last year after it was revealed that his wife received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a PAC led by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe during a state Senate campaign a couple of years ago. McAuliffe is a close ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s.
The president himself has tweeted criticism of McCabe in the past.
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?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017
It is still unclear whether McCabe’s departure is of his own volition or is as the result of ongoing pressure the White House and congressional Republicans. McCabe will be “stepping down” as opposed to resigning, a designation that allows him to stay on until March when his retirement pension fully vests.