LUPICA: TRUMP’S DEPT. OF OBSTRUCTION
Ex-CIA boss rips his ‘venality,’ ‘corruption,’ - he’ll be in ‘dustbin of history’
THE FALLOUT from the firing of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe swept through Washington Saturday as it emerged that the axed G-man kept detailed memos of his interactions with President Trump.
McCabe turned over the notes, similar to those compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey, to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, according to several reports.
The revelation came as one of the commander-in-chief’s top attorneys John Dowd used McCabe’s dismissal to call for the end to Mueller’s criminal probe.
Dowd cited the “brilliant and courageous example” set by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in canning McCabe as he encouraged deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to “bring an end” to the investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia and obstruction of justice.
“Just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations,” Dowd said.
Rosenstein is overseeing the Russia investigation after Sessions recused himself from the probe last year.
Despite the implication that Mueller should be fired, Dowd tried to couch his comments after initially saying they were made on behalf of the President.
After the Daily Beast first reported the incendiary remarks, Dowd said that he was voicing his own opinion.
The President’s legal team until now steered clear of directly criticizing the special counsel.
Former CIA director John Brennan dismissed Trump Saturday as “a disgraced demagogue” in a scathing response to the President.
“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,” he tweeted.
“You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America . . . America will triumph over you.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) cautioned
Trump’s team against messing with Mueller.
“Mr. Dowd’s comments are yet another indication that the first instinct of the President and his legal team is not to cooperate with special counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn,” Schumer said.
“The President, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsel's investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans.”
Trump — who often calls the probe a “witch hunt” — has reportedly mulled firing Mueller in the past, a move that many believe would set off a Constitutional crisis.
“Ending the Mueller probe now would be insane and little short of treasonous,” Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe tweeted.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) called on his colleagues to keep an eye on the President’s actions.
“Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now,” he said.
Dowd claims that the ongoing investigation — which has already led to 22 indictments, including four former Trump campaign officials, and five plea deals — was “manufactured” by Comey, who ripped into Trump on Saturday for celebrating McCabe’s firing.
“Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not,” Comey tweeted.
Dismissed by the President last May, Comey is readying for the release of his new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”
The tome hits stores on April 17.
Trump, who along with his supporters has alleged extensive political bias at the bureau, ripped into the FBI on Saturday.
“As the House Intelligence Committee has concluded, there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign,” he tweeted.
“As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State.”
McCabe was shown the door by Sessions two days ahead of his scheduled retirement date on the recommendation of bureau disciplinary officials.
An inspector general’s report is expected to show that he was not forthcoming with investigators regarding information he shared with the media about the agency's investigation into Hillary Clinton.
McCabe, who suggested the move was part of the Trump administration’s “war on the FBI.” He reportedly met with Mueller’s team and told them all he knows about Comey’s ouster, according to Axios.
McCabe has enlisted the legal help of high-powered Washington lawyer Michael Bromwich, a former inspector general of the Justice Department.
The top agent became a frequent target of Trump’s ire as the President criticized McCabe’s wife’s purported ties to Clinton.
He had been on leave from the FBI since stepping down in January and was scheduled to retire on Sunday with full benefits after a 22-year career.
Two Democratic representatives have offered McCabe a job so he can collect a pension.
“Andrew call me. I could use a good two-day report on the biggest crime families in Washington D.C.” Rep. Mark Pocan (D- WIS.) tweeted.