US Attorney General Sessions fires ex-FBI deputy director McCabe

The termination was recommended by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. It comes after a still-classified report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general found that McCabe mishandled the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State.

“Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately,” Sessions said of his decision.

McCabe’s firing was announced on Friday, just two days before he was set to retire. The sacking could cost McCabe the pension that he was entitled to after 21 years of working at the FBI.

McCabe “has made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor – including under oath – on multiple occasions,” Sessions stated, citing reports by both the Inspector General and the ORP. The soon-to-be-released DOJ report is expected to reveal that McCabe leaked information about the Clinton email probe to the media and misled watchdog investigators.

McCabe announced that he would be stepping down from his post in late January, but took a “terminate leave” that would have allowed him to collect an estimated $60,000 a year pension. McCabe planned to retire on Sunday, the day of his 50th birthday.

The career FBI official’s plan did not sit well with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly taunted him on Twitter, particularly over his wife’s connections. In July, Trump tweeted that McCabe should have been fired because his wife, Jill, received money from a Clinton ally in 2015 to run for a state seat in Virginia. In a string of tweets in December, Trump slammed McCabe for “racing the clock to retire with full benefits.”

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