For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The president’s tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about it. No more. The investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI’s involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau and to make it clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed. The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the same type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them. But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people. Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG’s focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursday’s comments from the White House are just the latest example of this. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work. I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I have always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the misty fo chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was prevailed to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see. I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.
CNN reported that McCabe learned about his firing through press releases. This pattern of cowardice in dismissing high-ranking officials is PATHETIC.
It’s probably an attempt to discredit him, as McCabe would be a crucial witness in an obstruction of justice case against Trump. It reflects poorly on Sessions, who undoubtedly did this under pressure or possibly even direct order from Trump. And the irony of Sessions criticizing someone for poor candor while under oath isn’t lost on me, even if he’s just repeating an assessment by the inspector general or the FBI’s personnel management office. To the casual observer: McCabe is (was?) a self-declared Republican, so eat your heart out, right-wing conspiracy theorists.
Moreover, he's been replacing people he's fired with TV personalities. Kudlow and one of the Fox and Friends have both been offered jobs in the last few days. He's dim enough that he can't see through the bullshit he sees soon TV everyday, which I guess makes sense when you consider that he sits in front of a TV for now how every day than most thinking people do in a week.
I'm not sure about the public backlash, but I'm 100% certain that Mueller has a plan to release whatever findings he has uncovered so far to the relevant state level attorney generals (attorneys general?). Most notably, New York, where AG Schneiderman has already indicated his distaste for all things Donald Trump. Of course, presidential pardons do not apply to convictions levied in state courts, so he may plan to route some prosecutions that way already. But yeah, especially once Mueller indicts anyone in Trump's family (we're looking at you first, kid Kushner), I expect him to be fired within a couple of days, tops.
Attorneys general, yes. It's interesting to me because Trump has long functioned by bullying people and burying them in bullshit, but he's traditionally picked fights with people he knows he can beat. Now that he's literally the biggest target in the world he's no longer getting to pick. My understanding is that Mueller is wholly beholden to the Attorney General, or in this case, the deputy Attorney General. What that means is anybody's guess at this point.
The borderline psychotic part of me wants this fight to drag out for seven more months then come to a head in October. The "I love my Country" part of me wants to start drinking bleach. BTW, the US deficit hit $21 Trillion this week, Trump added more than a trillion in his first year. Didn't he go off on Obama when the debt rose similarly in the wake of TARP and the recovery? If you will excuse me now, I'm going to go sulk offline for a bit.
John Brennan is a fucking savage https://twitter.com/johnbrennan/status/974978856997224448?s=21
Fox News knew about the firing before it was announced
I dunno, it's entirely possible that they already had a piece written up. People were predicting the firing earlier this week, I saw multiple articles discussing the likelihood. Someone at Fox could've just accidentally pulled the trigger too early.
Agree. Fox might have even known before McCabe. Friday nights with this administration usually don't disappoint.
That's gonna look great at discovery. Do these people not consider what has to be made public during the inevitable law suit? Is would be a dream come true if they used this as evidence of a broad propaganda connection between Fox and Trump and/or the RNC, and they used this as grounds to subpoena correspondence going back years.