The Justice Department is pushing back against revealing details from a former top FBI deputy that the DOJ itself considered an attempt to try and overthrow President Donald Trump in 2017.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said DOJ officials were outraged by Trump’s decision to terminate then-FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, so much so that they considered directing members of Trump’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment that would lead to the President’s removal, according to a New York Times report on Thursday.
These previously unconfirmed details emerged from a “60 Minutes” interview with journalist Scott Pelley and McCabe, which will air this weekend. Pelley revealed additional details from McCabe ahead of the full interview.
“There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment,” Pelley said on CBS This Morning.
“These were the eight days from Comey’s firing to the point that Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel. And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what do with the president,” he added.
The discussions on the 25th Amendment took place in several meetings on May 16, 2017, as confirmed by memos McCabe and colleagues kept.
“We discussed the president’s capacity and the possibility he could be removed from office under the 25th Amendment,” one of McCabe’s handwritten memos read.
The memo added that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said invoking the 25th Amendment would require at least eight of the 15 cabinet members.
The DOJ, however, quickly refuted McCabe’s assertions just hours after the news broke Thursday.
“As to the specific portions of this interview provided to the Department of Justice by 60 Minutes in advance, the Deputy Attorney General again rejects Mr. McCabe’s recitation of events as inaccurate and factually incorrect,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Deputy Attorney General never authorized any recording that Mr. McCabe references. As the Deputy Attorney General previously has stated, based on his personal dealings with the President, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment, nor was the DAG in a position to consider invoking the 25th Amendment,” the spokesperson added.
Rosenstein refuted having discussions about the 25th Amendment, or his own suggestion of wearing a wire to secretly record meetings with President Trump – two activities that were first revealed, but not confirmed, in a Sept. 2018 New York Times report.
McCabe confirmed that the earlier report was, in fact, accurate.
McCabe says Rosenstein’s offer to wear wire around Trump was serious: report https://t.co/BszcwKhEr4 pic.twitter.com/FUoJlAZ3B6
— The Hill (@thehill) February 14, 2019
“They were counting noses. They were not asking cabinet members whether they would vote for or against removing the president, but they were speculating ‘This person would be with us, this person would not be,’ and they were counting noses in that effort,” Pelley noted.
“This was not perceived to be a joke,” he clarified.
McCabe is the only member of the meetings to speak publicly about them, shortly one year after he resigned from his position after more than 20 years of service at the FBI.
His resignation followed criticism and calls for him to release his memos, which were suspected of significant bias against President Trump.
President Trump tweeted Thursday morning in response to the McCabe interview, saying, “Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a ‘poor little Angel’ when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax – a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of ‘insurance policy’ in case I won.”
Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax – a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of “insurance policy” in case I won….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
“Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign – he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he added.
….Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign – he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
