Trump hails FBI official’s firing

But critics slam McCabe’s axing as a dangerous ploy to discredit the agency

Washington: Donald Trump has hailed the firing of a veteran FBI agent as a “great day for democracy,” a move his attorney said he hoped would bring an end to a probe into alleged collusion between the president’s campaign and Russia.

But critics slammed the axing as a “dangerous” ploy to discredit the top law enforcement agency as well as the work of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian influence in the 2016 election.

McCabe, who was the FBI’s deputy under former director James Comey, is a potentially key witness in the Russia probe.

Trump’s personal attorney, John Dowd, told the Daily Beast on Saturday that he hoped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would follow the lead of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and “bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufac- tured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier.”

Dowd told the Daily Beast he was speaking for the president. But in a subsequent statement he said he had been “speaking for myself, not the president.”

McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from Trump, was fired by the Justice Department late Friday, just two days before he was to retire after 21 years with the FBI.

The firing threw new fuel on the fire raging over the investigation, with critics saying Trump might be planning to engineer Mueller’s dismissal, potentially sparking a constitutional crisis.

Mueller is also examining whether Trump might have obstructed justice, including by firing Comey last May.

“Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy,” Trump tweeted soon after the firing.

McCabe pushed back hard, denying any impropriety and saying he was the victim of a Trump administration “war” against the FBI and the special counsel.

McCabe kept memos of his inter- actions with Trump, TheWashington Post reported Saturday, adding that the memos could bolster his version of events.

Comey pushed back as well, tweeting: “Mr President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.”

The firing could add to discontent inside the FBI, where both Comey and McCabe are widely respected.

The Justice Department said an internal investigation had found that McCabe made unauthorised disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest “on multiple occasions” with the department’s inspector general.

“The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. Lack of candour under oath is a firing offense at the FBI, but the politically charged context of the move raised questions among McCabe’s backers.

In a stinging response to the president, former CIA chief John Brennan tweeted on Saturday: “When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.”

Trump, in an early afternoon tweet, belittled the media for its coverage of the story, saying: “The Fake news is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired...”

And in a second tweet, he again denied any collusion with Russia, adding, “there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State.”

Mr President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

James Comey