McCabe Statement On his Firing
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By Andrew McCabe |
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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 us.
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 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 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 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 privileged 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. |
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