Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is suing the FBI and Department of Justice over wrongful termination.
In the civil lawsuit, McCabe claims he faced “unlawful retaliation for his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single man,” an apparent reference to President Trump, when he was fired on March 16, 2018, the Associated Press reported Thursday afternoon.
NEW: Andrew McCabe sues over firing, says Sessions and Wray “served as Trump’s personal enforcers” and catered “to Trump’s unlawful whims instead of honoring their oaths to uphold the Constitution.” https://t.co/FSJsm1xiFF
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 8, 2019
The defendants also include Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Trump demanded Plaintiff’s personal allegiance, he sought retaliation when Plaintiff refused to give it, and Sessions, Wray, and others served as Trump’s personal enforcers rather than the nation’s highest law enforcement officials, catering to Trump’s unlawful whims instead of honoring their oaths to uphold the Constitution,” the lawsuit says, according to AP.
NEW: Andrew McCabe, ousted FBI deputy director, sues US Justice Department, FBI. Complaint: https://t.co/DgCE9yUQql pic.twitter.com/OD3aJPWRxO
— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) August 8, 2019
McCabe was fired by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions amid an investigation of his release of confidential information to the media.
He denied the accusations and instead asserted that his firing was motivated by politics.
He had worked at the FBI since 1996, but had served as Deputy Director since February 2016.
The DOJ and FBI “responded to Plaintiff’s two decades of unblemished and non-partisan public service with a politically motivated and retaliatory demotion in January 2018 and public firing in March 2018 — on the very night of Plaintiff’s long-planned retirement from the FBI,” the lawsuit states, according to CNN.
McCabe had announced his resignation in January 2018, intending to invoke his retirement benefits in March, but was fired just two days before his retirement was to go into effect.
McCabe made headlines in February when he 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.
