McCabe: FBI in ‘utter disarray’

Andrew McCabe, the former acting director of the FBI, said the agency is in “utter disarray” amid an apparent purge of law enforcement agents, officials and other employees who worked on probes into President Trump.

McCabe joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday to discuss the state of play at the FBI, which has seen dozens of officials removed, including those who worked on Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases.

“I’ve talked to more FBI people in the last four days than I did in the prior four years,” said McCabe, who served as acting director in 2017, until Trump appointed Christopher Wray to the post.

“It is a place in utter disarray right now.”

In just a few weeks, the Trump administration has removed dozens of Department of Justice and FBI officials and thousands more are feared on the chopping block, given the sprawling nature of the investigations into Jan. 6 in particular.

At the FBI, five of the highest-ranking career officials were forced out, as well as the heads of numerous field offices, including the top official at the Washington branch.

About 2,400 agents who were working on Jan. 6 cases across the country were on a list turned over to the administration, leaving their future at the bureau uncertain.

“This is totally unprecedented,” McCabe said Monday.

“This is a moment of terror for these people. It is absolutely disgraceful that they are being put through this in the middle of some political gamesmanship,” McCabe said of FBI rank-and-file. “They don’t deserve to be treated this way. It’s unlawful and it’s disgusting.”

As the longtime No. 2 official at the FBI, McCabe presided over the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and the Trump campaign’s alleged ties with Russia. He left that role in early 2018, facing fierce criticism from Trump.

He was officially fired shortly before he entered retirement, though eventually won back his full pension following a legal fight.