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McCabe speaks out: I was fired "in the most disembodied" way

Andrew McCabe.
Andrew McCabe. Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Andrew McCabe, former FBI Deputy Director who was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week, gave his side of the story in a Washington Post op-ed, rejecting the "lack of candor" reasoning used by Sessions.

The bottom line: Sessions fired McCabe two days before his pension — he was already planning to retire last weekend — and writes he was fired "in the most disembodied, impersonal way." He said he was "not surprised" by Trump's praise of his removal, and that he was told by "a friend....that CNN was reporting that I had been fired." Axios' Jonathan Swan also reported he was informed he was fired by Sessions "at least nine minutes before the media."

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More from the op-ed:

  • On being accused of lack of candor: "I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators...At worst, I was not clear in my responses...But that is not a lack of candor. And under no circumstances could it ever serve as the basis for the very public and extended humiliation of my family and me that the administration, and the president personally, have engaged in over the past year."
  • On Trump's tweet about his firing: "I was sad, but not surprised, to see that such unhinged public attacks on me would continue into my life after my service to the FBI. President Trump’s cruelty reminded me of the days immediately following the firing of James B. Comey."
  • On the his FBI career: "There is nothing like having the opportunity to be a part of the greatest law-enforcement organization in the world...Even if a president decides to attack you and your family. Even if you get fired on a Friday night, one day from your retirement."

Go deeper on Trump's relationship with McCabe.

Andrew Mccabe
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