Trump blasts former FBI official McCabe after explosive interview

President Trump on Thursday lashed out at Andrew McCabe after the former FBI deputy director revealed he opened a probe into whether Trump obstructed justice when the president fired James Comey as FBI chief in 2017 amid the Russia investigation.

 

In a string of morning tweets, Trump wrote that the “disgraced” McCabe “pretends to be a ‘poor little Angel’ when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax” and “a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey.”

 

The president added that an internal watchdog report that was used to justify McCabe’s ouster was “devastating.”{mosads}

 

The report found that McCabe had a “lack of candor” with investigators looking into FBI leaks about its probe into the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 presidential race.

 

“McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president wrote.

 

The White House piled on hours later, saying McCabe “has no credibility” because of what it said were his efforts to deceive investigators looking into the leaks.

“His selfish and destructive agenda drove him to open a completely baseless investigation into the president,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Andrew McCabe has no credibility and is an embarrassment to the men and women of the FBI and our great country.”

 

During an excerpt of an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” released Thursday, McCabe said that top Justice Department officials were so concerned about Trump’s decision to fire Comey in May 2017 that they discussed forming an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office.

 

McCabe also said he ordered investigators working on the Russia probe to look into whether Trump obstructed justice or had fallen under the influence of Moscow.

 

Both revelations had been previously reported by media outlets, but McCabe spoke about them for the first time on record.

 

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has denied the 25th Amendment talk and McCabe’s claim that he suggested wearing a wire during conversations with Trump.

 

Trump turned his focus to the Russia probe as Congress rushes to complete a spending deal to avert a government shutdown by midnight Friday. The package contains only a fraction of the money Trump demanded for his long-desired border wall, but the president has suggested he may use his own powers to build it.

 

But the feud between Trump and McCabe threatens to cast another shadow over the White House and renew questions about the president’s leadership.

In an excerpt of McCabe’s new book “The Threat” published in the Atlantic on Thursday, the former FBI official cast Trump as “a deliberate liar” who is willing to interfere in criminal investigations to protect himself and his presidency.

“Today we have a president who is willing not only to comment prejudicially on criminal prosecutions but to comment on ones that potentially affect him,” McCabe wrote. “He does both of these things almost daily. He is not just sounding a dog whistle. He is lobbying for a result.”

— Updated 1:35 p.m.