FBI Memo Raises New Questions About Timing Of Andrew McCabe’s Firing

The FBI’s top internal affairs official told bureau leaders that it was “unlikely” that a final decision would be made on whether then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe could be fired before his March 18 retirement date, according to documents released Tuesday.

But that assessment, which was laid out in the documents, ended up being wrong. McCabe was fired two days before retirement for a “lack of candor” with investigators probing leaks that McCabe authorized to the press.

The memo, sent by Candice Will, the head of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), to FBI Director Christopher Wray and current Deputy Director David Bowdich, raises questions about whether the FBI and Justice Department sped up the investigation of McCabe in order to fire him before his scheduled retirement.

McCabe and his attorneys have argued that the FBI and Justice Department caved to pressure from President Donald Trump, who called for McCabe to be fired and stripped of his pension for various alleged misdeeds. Trump cited political donations from a top Hillary Clinton ally to McCabe’s wife’s political campaign for Virginia state Senate.

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