Facing GOP attacks, FBI deputy director makes plans to retire early
Links to Comey vexing for McCabe
WASHINGTON — Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. McCabe spent hours in Congress this past week, facing questions behind closed doors from members of three committees. Republicans said they were dissatisfied with his answers. Democrats called it a partisan hounding.
Mr. McCabe, 49, holds a unique position in the political firestorm surrounding the FBI. He was former director James Comey’s right-hand man, a position that involved him in most of the FBI’s actions that vex President Donald Trump and in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, a matter that still riles Democrats.
Mr. McCabe won’t become eligible for his full pension until early March. People close to him say he plans to retire as soon as he hits that mark. “He’s got about 90 days, and some of that will be holiday time. He can make it,’’ one said.
A spokesman for Mr. McCabe declined to comment, as did an FBI spokesman.
Word of Mr. McCabe’s plans drew a response Saturday from Mr. Trump, who in a Twitter post characterized the move as “racing the clock to retire with full benefits.”
When Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey in May, Mr. McCabe stayed to run the agency until a new director was in place and to take the political heat for decisions made by his former boss.
“Andy’s in a difficult position now . . . because of the hyperpartisan political environment,’’ said John Pistole, who held the FBI’s No. 2 job for six years under former director Robert Mueller III. Mr. Mueller now serves as special counsel, running the investigation into whether any Trump associates conspired with Russian agents to interfere with the 2016 election.
Mr. Pistole said Mr. McCabe “is weathering the storm.”
“It’s disappointing,” Mr. Pistole added, “to see how the criticism of the FBI is being used to try to undermine the credibility of the Mueller investigation. I think they’ve figured out they can’t undermine Bob’s integrity, so they’re just going to go after whoever they can dig up any dirt on.’’
Within the agency, there is praise — but also some criticism — for how Mr. McCabe has handled his role. Still, he has become a lightning rod in the political storms buffeting the bureau. Conservatives have called for heads to roll at the FBI, and Mr. McCabe is atop the lists of many. But current and former FBI officials said it would be dangerous to appease those demands.
“It would send a terrible message to move him now, but it’s also a terrible situation he’s in,’’ one law enforcement official said.
Last week, the FBI’s top lawyer, James Baker, told colleagues he was being reassigned, according to people familiar with the matter.
The pressure on Mr. McCabe has only intensified. He got an eight-hour grilling from the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday and returned to Congress on Thursday to face more than nine hours of questions from the House Judiciary and Oversight committees.
Other senior FBI officials, including those who worked closely with Mr. McCabe and Mr. Comey, are expected to face similar questioning from Congress next year.
Republicans are focusing in particular on the FBI’s relationship with the author of a dossier containing allegations against Mr. Trump. The bureau offered to pay the author of that document after the election to keep pursuing leads and information, but the agreement was never finalized, The Washington Post reported earlier this year.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has called for Mr. McCabe’s ouster, saying he “ought to go for reasons of being involved in some of the things that took place in the previous administration. We want to make sure that there’s not undue political influence within the FBI — the [Justice] Department and the FBI.”
Democrats emerging from Thursday’s questioning of Mr. McCabe urged him to resist Republicans’ calls to step down, saying the GOP’s new focus on McCabe smells of political opportunism.
Mr. McCabe should not be fired because of “biased political commentary,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
Mr. Trump and his supporters have made clear they want Mr. McCabe gone, but as a civil service employee, Mr. McCabe can’t be fired outright without a clear finding of major wrongdoing.
Christopher Wray became the FBI’s director in August, and a new leader typically appoints a new deputy to help run the agency. When Mr. Comey became director in 2013, for example, he got a new deputy after about two months.
But within the FBI, even reassigning Mr. McCabe is viewed by many as a bad idea. It would be seen as caving to political demands and might provoke calls for additional housecleaning.