Breaking: McCabe Steps Down | The Ashford Zone

Multiple U.S. officials say that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down from his post today and taking “terminal leave” meaning that he will stay on until his retirement in March (that was always his plan) so he can receive full retirement benefits.

This may very well be McCabe’s own decision, but given Trump’s demands for his ouster and his ongoing pressure on DOJ/FBI, Wray ought to explain to Congress what has happened as soon as possible.

UPDATE:

Does this have something to do with the Nunes memo?

When asked about McCabe, Jordan said maybe Wray saw something in the memo and then something happened at FBI… when pressed about what he was implying Jordan refused to elaborate.

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 29, 2018

UPDATE #2:

Tomorrow, when Trump reads the State of the Union without venturing far from the teleprompter (feeding him words and concepts he doesn’t understand), some might say he was “presidential”. But this is the real Trump — a dick:

Rather than “OK, sir”, McCabe should have shot back “I don’t know. You tell me, sir.”

BREAKING UPDATE #3

The NY Times is now reporting that pressure was brought to bear:

Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.

Though Mr. McCabe’s retirement had been widely expected soon, his departure was nevertheless sudden. As recently as last week, Mr. McCabe had told people he hoped to stay until he was eligible to retire in mid-March. Instead, Mr. McCabe made his intentions known to colleagues on Monday, an American official said, and will immediately go on leave.

In a recent conversation, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, raised concerns about a forthcoming inspector general report examining the actions of Mr. McCabe and other senior F.B.I. officials during the 2016 presidential campaign, when the bureau was investigating both Hillary Clinton’s email use and the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. In that discussion, according to one former law enforcement official close to Mr. McCabe, Mr. Wray suggested moving Mr. McCabe into another job, which would have been a demotion.

Instead, the former official said, Mr. McCabe chose to leave.

So much for an independent DOJ and FBI.