FBI firing and the fallout

Just action

Regarding “McCabe fired a day before retiring” (Page A1, Saturday), there are at least three things that justify his seemingly untimely firing.

First, if Andrew McCabe was so interested in his firing, he should not have been engaged in official misconduct and political shenanigans. These occurred well before his retirement date. Second, if no firing had taken place, the message of “misbehave, nothing will happen” would have been entrenched for generations of FBI employees.

Finally, the penalty fit the misbehavior. If an employee at any company were guilty of theft, after an appropriate investigation (which was conducted), the employee would be fired immediately, retirement or not. While this wasn’t theft, it was nothing less. Internal sabotage would have been treated the same way. Ron McClain, Livingston

Bad actor

I have to take exception to the reader’s letter, (“You’re fired,” Page A11, Tuesday) about the firing of Andrew McCabe. Trump may be glad that McCabe is gone, but he had little to do with his firing. His attorney general, Jeff Sessions, did the firing but only because he happens to be the only one whose job description includes such action at the moment. The investigation into McCabe’s actions was started in 2016 by President Barack Obama — long before Trump was president. Further, the investigation was conducted by the Justice Department Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, who was appointed by Obama. His report then resulted in other career officials in the Department of Justice recommending McCabe’s immediate dismissal.

McCabe’s pension plan position is unclear. As I understand it, he will still get a pension but cannot start to receive benefits early at age 50. He will be required to wait until a later date. Kent Marshall, Missouri City

Vindictive, petty

One could say the system worked as planned except for the elephant in the room: The interference of President Trump since December, which added the influence of bias into everything that has happened in the handling of this case. Trump’s actions seem vindictive and petty.

The president should not be firing employees with a tweet or giving public comments that could add bias to the normal workings of employee relations. Attorney General Sessions will have to deal with the low morale this could impart to the employees of the FBI. Special Counsel Robert Mueller will possibly add this firing into the mix when deciding whether the president has obstructed justice. Ron Curtis, Houston