McCabe says he opened investigation into Trump
Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Thursday that he authorized an investigation into President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia a day after meeting with him in May 2017 out of fear that he could soon be fired.
“I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion that were I removed quickly or reassigned or fired that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace,” Mr. McCabe told CBS.
His comments marked the first time that Mr. McCabe has publicly addressed why he opened an investigation into Mr. Trump following the firing of FBI Director James Comey, whose post Mr. McCabe took over. And they came a short time before the Senate confirmed William Barr as attorney general, placing the veteran government official and lawyer atop the Justice Department as a special counsel investigates Russian interference in the 2016 election.
CBS broadcast a portion of the
McCabe interview scheduled to air in full on “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
“I was speaking to the man who had just run for the presidency, and won the election for the presidency, and who might have done so with the aid of the government of Russia, our most formidable adversary on the world stage, and that was something that troubled me greatly,” Mr. McCabe said, recalling his first meeting with Mr. Trump.
About two hours after the clip aired, Mr. Trump blasted Mr. McCabe on Twitter, calling him “a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country.”
“Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a ‘poor little Angel’ when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax - a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey,” the president wrote, referring to an FBI investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server while secretary of state in addition to its probe of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Mr. Trump said that Mr. McCabe “gave Hillary a pass.” Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement saying that the CBS interview made it “imperative” that Mr. McCabe appear before his committee to answer for “what appears to be, now more than ever, bias against President Trump.”
In the clip that aired on CBS, Mr. McCabe did not address specific evidence that led him to believe Mr. Trump should be investigated personally.
It has been previously reported that the FBI began to explore at that point whether Mr. Trump was trying to obstruct justice, in part by firing Mr. Comey, and whether he personally was of concern from a counterintelligence perspective.
Mr. McCabe opened the case so quickly that some at the Justice Department were concerned that he might have acted too hastily because of Mr. Comey’s removal, people familiar with the matter have said.
In the interview, Mr. McCabe also apparently addresses allegations he made in memos documenting discussions with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
It has been reported previously that Mr. McCabe alleged in the memos that Mr. Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire to surreptitiously record the president and that Cabinet members considered invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office.
During an appearance on “CBS This Morning,” Scott Pelley, the correspondent who interviewed Mr. McCabe, described the discussions of the 25th Amendment as “counting noses” — or speculating on where various Cabinet members might stand on the question.
Mr. Pelley said Mr. McCabe disputes the assertion, advanced by defenders of Mr. Rosenstein, that the deputy attorney general was not serious about wearing a wire. Mr. Pelley said Mr. McCabe took the idea to FBI lawyers for a discussion afterward.
That, too, has been previously reported, though Mr. McCabe has never before publicly described his allegations.