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Andrew McCabe Steps Down at F.B.I. in Widely Expected Move Andrew McCabe Steps Down as F.B.I. Deputy Director Under Pressure
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Andrew G. McCabe has stepped down as the F.B.I.’s deputy director, a move that was widely expected as he has repeatedly come under fire from Republicans in Congress and from President Trump. WASHINGTON — 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 the head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.
Mr. McCabe made his intentions known to colleagues on Monday, an American official said. He will immediately go on leave and plans to retire when he becomes eligible in mid-March. 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.
By appointing Mr. McCabe to the F.B.I.’s second-highest position in 2016, the director at the time, James B. Comey, was seen as valuing intellect and management over experience making cases. Mr. McCabe, a graduate of Duke and of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, quickly ascended the bureau’s ranks, sometimes rankling the workaday agents who believed he did not pay his dues in the field. 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.
Mr. McCabe’s supporters, though, regarded him as a new model for the F.B.I., which had transformed from a traditional law-and-order agency to a complicated intelligence-gathering operation. Instead, the former official said, Mr. McCabe chose to leave.
Mr. McCabe joined the F.B.I. in 1996 as an agent in the New York office and moved quickly into some of the bureau’s most important jobs. Under Mr. Comey, it was clear that Mr. McCabe was being groomed for the deputy job. In a message to F.B.I. employees on Monday afternoon, Mr. Wray said he would not comment on “specific aspects” of the inspector general review. He said that he and his deputy spoke, and that afterward, Mr. McCabe said he planned to take leave immediately and retire on March 18. Mr. Wray thanked Mr. McCabe for his service.
But he took on the role during one of the most tumultuous and politically fraught periods in F.B.I. history. Agents investigated Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and the Trump campaign’s connections to Russian intelligence officers, and Mr. McCabe was at the center of both inquiries. Mr. McCabe’s departure followed taunts from Mr. Trump on Twitter in recent months, but Mr. Wray wrote to bureau employees, “I will not be swayed by political or other pressure in my decision-making.”
He first drew Mr. Trump’s ire because his wife, Jill McCabe, ran for a State Senate seat in Virginia as a Democrat and accepted nearly $500,000 in contributions from the political organization of Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime friend of the Clintons. The White House said Mr. Trump had nothing to do with Mr. McCabe’s exit. “The president wasn’t part of this decision-making process,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary.
His departure was not announced at the bureau, leaving agents to learn of it from news reports. Mr. Wray, who was sworn in as director in August, named the bureau’s No. 3 official, David L. Bowdich, as his acting deputy, according to the director’s note to the F.B.I.
Mr. McCabe had become a political lightning rod over the past year, with Mr. Trump and his Republican allies accusing him of leading a politically motivated investigation into Trump campaign aides and their ties to Russia.
Mr. McCabe, a graduate of Duke and of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, joined the F.B.I. in 1996 as an agent in the New York office and quickly ascended the bureau’s ranks. Under the previous F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, it was clear that Mr. McCabe was being groomed for the deputy job, the F.B.I.’s second-highest position.
By appointing Mr. McCabe in 2016, Mr. Comey was seen as valuing intellect and management over experience making cases. Mr. McCabe’s ascent sometimes rankled the workaday agents who believed he did not pay his dues in the field, but Mr. McCabe’s supporters regarded him as a new model for the F.B.I., which had transformed from a traditional law-and-order agency to a complicated intelligence-gathering operation.
He took on the role during one of the most tumultuous and politically charged periods in F.B.I. history. Mr. McCabe was at the center of the inquiries into both Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server and the Trump campaign’s connections to Russian intelligence officers.
Mr. McCabe first drew Mr. Trump’s ire because his wife, Jill McCabe, ran for a State Senate seat in Virginia as a Democrat and accepted nearly $500,000 in contributions from the political organization of Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime friend of the Clintons.
Mr. McCabe did not become deputy director until after his wife was defeated, and records show that he disclosed his wife’s candidacy and sought advice from senior F.B.I. officials. But critics, including some inside the bureau itself, said he should have recused himself. The F.B.I. has said Mr. McCabe played no role in his wife’s campaign.Mr. McCabe did not become deputy director until after his wife was defeated, and records show that he disclosed his wife’s candidacy and sought advice from senior F.B.I. officials. But critics, including some inside the bureau itself, said he should have recused himself. The F.B.I. has said Mr. McCabe played no role in his wife’s campaign.
Mr. Trump and his allies have sought to use Mr. McCabe’s wife’s campaign as evidence that the Russia investigation was part of a Democratic-led effort to undermine his candidacy and presidency.Mr. Trump and his allies have sought to use Mr. McCabe’s wife’s campaign as evidence that the Russia investigation was part of a Democratic-led effort to undermine his candidacy and presidency.