The 49-year-old Connecticut native first came under fire from the President’s associates last October.
Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the FBI, became the latest victim of President Trump’s tirade against a perceived liberal bias within the intelligence community, culminating in reports Saturday that McCabe plans to retire next year.
But this isn’t the first time McCabe has weathered attacks from Trump and some say he’s only looking to retire because he becomes elgible for his full pension in March.
The 49-year-old Connecticut native first came under fire from the President’s associates last October after it was revealed that then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe had donated $467,500 to his wife Jill McCabe’s Democratic bid for the state’s Senate.
Deputy Director McCabe was overseeing the FBI’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails at the time and the Trump campaign pounced on the hefty donation to his wife as proof of pro-Clinton bias within the bureau, citing Gov. McAuliffe’s political and personal ties to the Clintons.
Trump continues attack on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe
Even though Jill McCabe lost the race and never ran again, the Justice Department followed up on those claims after Trump’s election, announcing an investigation on Jan. 12 into “allegations that the FBI Deputy Director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters.”
That investigation, which remains ongoing, has so far not produced a thread of evidence suggesting that McCabe was compromised by the donations to his wife’s Senate campaign.
But that didn’t stop Trump from firing off several tweets on Saturday and Sunday accusing McCabe — seemingly without evidence — of using his “FBI official email account” to promote the Clinton campaign.
Congressional Republicans had called for McCabe’s ouster earlier in the week in light of the release of an anti-Trump text message sent by an FBI agent supposedly connected to the deputy director.
FBI Deputy Director McCabe to retire next year amid GOP attacks
“He ought to be replaced,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told reporters. “I’ve said that before and I’ve said it to people who can do it.”
Nonetheless, McCabe is reportedly widely-respected in intelligence circles and many FBI officials consider the recent attacks on him political hit jobs.
“The people who are making these baseless accusations don’t know McCabe. I do. The guy’s a total pro,” Frank Montoya, Jr., a retired FBI official who worked closely with McCabe, told the New York Times . “His only motivation is to support and defend the Constitution.”
After obtaining a law degree from Washington University and interning at the Justice Department’s criminal division, McCabe joined the FBI in 1996 as an agent at the bureau’s New York field office. He quickly climbed the administrative ladder and ended up holding senior positions at the counterterrorism division and the national security branch before being appointed deputy director on Jan. 29,2016.
After Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May, McCabe stepped in as his interim replacement, reportedly drawing renewed ire from the President, who still considered him a Clinton loyalist.
McCabe subsequently stood up to Trump, telling the Senate Intelligence Committee that the investigation into Russian election meddling is “highly significant.”
“Simply put, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing,” McCabe said, seemingly taking a shot at Trump.
That prompted Trump to question why Attorney General Jeff Sessions hadn’t replaced McCabe, whom he blasted as a “Comey friend” in a tweet at the time. Trump appointed Christopher Wray to replace McCabe this August.
On Saturday, Trump celebrated McCabe’s prospective retirement, hinting in tweets that the news confirmed his suspicions that the FBI official was biased against him.
But several reports pointed out that news of McCabe’s imminent retirement is likely prompted by the fact that he’s about to become eligible for his full pension benefits.
