AG Jeff Sessions is considering a recommendation to fire former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe before he is scheduled to retire on Sunday, which would strip McCabe of his 22-year benefits:
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was set to officially retire on March 18, but according to a source familiar with the matter, he could be fired just days before and lose his pension after a more than two-decade career at the bureau.
The embattled official abruptly stepped down at the end of January and has been on leave since that time.
CNN has learned the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility has recommended McCabe be fired and now the decision is up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The issue stems from findings in an internal Justice Department watchdog report that claims he misled investigators about his decision to authorize FBI officials to speak to the media about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
A representative for McCabe declined to comment.
That report, which has been complete for over a week, according to the source, has not been released publicly. The office is currently examining how investigations were handled at the department and the FBI in advance of the 2016 presidential election, including, notably, the Hillary Clinton email server probe.
“The Department follows a prescribed process by which an employee may be terminated. That process includes recommendations from career employees and no termination decision is final until the conclusion of that process. We have no personnel announcements at this time,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement.
Note this recommendation is coming from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, not Trump. But I’m sure if Sessions decides to fire McCabe, which would no doubt make Trump very happy and probably send him on a tweeting spree, the media will say Sessions was manipulated by Trump to do it and try to turn that into a controversy.
It’s only Wednesday however, so Sessions still has a few days to decide on whether to accept this recommendation or not. I personally hope he pulls the trigger on it, but we’ll see what he does.
UPDATE:
NBC reporting that McCabe will likely be fired…
NBC News: Former FBI Director Andrew McCabe is likely going to be fired, Pete Williams reports. Officials say the Office of Professional Responsibility has already determined that McCabe should be fired and it is up to AG Sessions do either reverse or accept that decision.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) March 14, 2018
UPDATE 2:
I still don’t think this is a Trump decision, but it turns out Trump gave the media ammo in December to make this into a controversy:
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017