President Donald Trump said Saturday that the "fake news" media is "beside themselves" that "McCabe was caught, called out and fired."
- President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that the "fake news" media was "beside themselves that [FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe] was caught, called out and fired."
- He also reiterated that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 US election.
- But he added that "as many are now finding out," there was "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption" from the top ranks of the FBI, Department of Justice, and State Department.
President Donald Trump blasted out a series of tweets Saturday afternoon weighing in on the firing of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and reiterating that his campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 US election.
"As the House Intelligence Committee has concluded, there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign," he tweeted. "As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State. #DrainTheSwamp"
McCabe was fired from the FBI late Friday night, less than 24 hours before he was set to retire with full pension benefits. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the decision to terminate the FBI's second-in-command, based on an internal DOJ investigation which found that McCabe made unauthorized disclosures to the media during the bureau's Hillary Clinton email probe.
Sessions' decision came despite his statements last year that he would recuse himself from matters related to the Russia investigation, the Clinton email investigation, and the Clinton Foundation.
The president said Friday night that McCabe's firing was "a great day" for the men and women of the FBI and for democracy.
On Saturday, he tacked on, "The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!"
Former FBI director James Comey hit back at Trump shortly after.
"Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not," he tweeted. The statement came as Comey prepares to kick off a national tour and PR campaign to promote his upcoming book, which is said to be a detailed account of his conversations and interactions with the president prior to his firing last May.
Trump's attacks on McCabe, meanwhile, were based on information contained in an October 2016 Wall Street Journal article.
McCabe's wife, Dr. Jill McCabe, mounted an unsuccessful run for a Virginia state Senate seat in 2015. The Journal reported on October 24, 2016 that her campaign received $675,000 in donations from the Virginia Democratic Party and from Common Good VA, the super PAC run by Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton supporter. None of the donations came from Clinton or her family.
Trump latched onto the revelations, accusing McCabe of corruption and anti-Trump bias, based on his wife's political campaign.
McCabe wasn't in charge of the Clinton investigation at the time, and didn't take on an "oversight role" in the probe until February 2016, long after his wife lost her election bid.
The FBI also released a trove of internal emails and documents in January that confirmed McCabe was not warned against becoming involved in the Clinton investigation but recused himself anyway following The Journal's report about his wife's campaign.
McCabe said in a statement Friday night that he had been "singled out" and targeted because of the events he witnessed after Trump fired Comey.
"All along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us," he said. "No more."