Attorney General Jeff Sessions pressured FBI Director Christopher Wray to remove Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, which led to the FBI director threatening Sessions to resign if McCabe was removed from his post.
The threat was apparently taken seriously because it will increase the attention on President Donal Trump regarding his interactions with the Justice Department.
Axios reported that Sessions allegedly told White House counsel Don McGahn about Wray’s response to the pressure for him to fire McCabe. McGahn replied by telling Sessions that McCabe wasn’t worth losing Wray.
After Trump fired former FBI director James Comey, he interviewed McCabe for the position, but in the end, Wray took over as director.
“Trump believes politically-motivated senior leaders including former Director Comey and others he empowered have tainted the agency’s reputation for unbiased pursuit of justice,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said.
“The president appointed Chris Wray because he is a man of true character and integrity and the right choice to clean up the misconduct at the highest levels of the FBI and give the rank and file confidence in their leadership,” Shah added.
Both the FBI and the Justice Department declined to give any comments on the issue.
McCabe was largely criticised by Republicans regarding his handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and the investigation into Russian election interference.
GOP leaders claimed that McCabe had a conflict of interest in the investigation because his wife ran for state office in Virginia as Democrat. The FBI ruled that the deputy director did not have any role in the probe into Clinton’s investigation.
According to The Hill, several GOP lawmakers have called for McCabe to be removed from the agency. He was interviewed by congressional committees behind closed doors for hours last month.
Meanwhile, reports have come out saying that McCabe plans to retire from his post in March when he will be eligible for full pension benefits.
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