Says firing is part of
Trump’s campaign to stop or discredit Mueller investigation
Statement issued
by Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director of the FBI after firing just days
before his planned retirement.
I have been an
FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as
a street agent and Supervisor in New York City.
I have spent the
second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting
this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging,
demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged
to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.
For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an
unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles
too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and
degrading allegation against us.
The president’s tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called
for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20
years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract
from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about it.
No more.
The investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI’s involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton.
I was being
portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of
closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as
caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law
enforcement purposes.
Nothing was further from the truth.
In fact, this
entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules,
to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau and to make it clear that we
were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.
The OIG
investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter
through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor.
As Deputy
Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that.
It was not a
secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director,
were aware of the interaction with the reporter.
It was the same
type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times
per week. In fact it was the same type of work that I continued to do under
Director Wray, at his request.
The
investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them,
and so forth.
During these
inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst
the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood,
I contacted investigators to correct them.
But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The
big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized,
public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and
protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and
people.
Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because
of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the
aftermath of the firing of James Comey.
The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the
House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director
Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President.
The OIG’s focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented
effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me
from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension
that I worked 21 years to earn.
The accelerated
release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense
only when viewed through this lens. Thursday’s comments from the White House
are just the latest example of this.
This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to
slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence
professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war
on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue
to this day.
Their
persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special
Counsel’s work.
I have always
prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I have
always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them.
To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor
when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly
disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was
prevailed to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for
the country to see.
I have unfailing
faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to
seek justice will not be deterred.
