Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe sued the Justice Department on Tuesday, alleging the agency did not provide him with proper documents related to his firing.
McCabe’s lawyers argue in the complaint that the agency repeatedly refused to identify for him the rules and policies it followed when firing him, The Associated Press reports.
The lawyers allege that the department has refused to provide the information out of fear that it could be used in future lawsuits against he agency, the AP reported.
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“Defendants fear that disclosure to Plaintiff of the documents at issue will place Defendants and others at risk in any proceedings brought against them by Mr. McCabe,” McCabe’s court filing states.
“Based on these fears, Defendants appear to have preemptively decided not to disclose the documents to Plaintiff.”
“We don’t create or adjudicate under secret law or procedure,” David Snyder, an attorney for McCabe, told the AP.
McCabe’s lawyers argue that they “seek to vindicate Mr. McCabe’s rights and restore his good name.” They are pushing for the documents about his firing in order to consider further legal action against the Trump administration.
Tuesday’s filing comes after McCabe’s attorneys said in April that they planned to file suits for wrongful termination and defamation of character against the Trump administration.
“We’ve never seen anything like this before. It does damage not only to Andy McCabe individually but also to the FBI as an institution,” another of McCabe’s attorneys, Michael Bromwich, told Axios.
McCabe’s team told Axios in April that they want those complaints “to be solid. We’ll file when we’re ready.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March after the agency’s inspector general found that McCabe had lied about his disclosures to the media. McCabe has denied the allegations.
Before his firing, the deputy FBI director was a top target of Republicans, including President Trump, who claimed that the former senior law enforcement official was biased against him.