Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe directly contradicted the White House when he said that Comey maintained broad support within the FBI.
According to Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Comey was fired because the FBI rank and file had lost confidence in him, “Here’s the bottom line: Comey had lost the confidence across the board — from House members, from Senate members, from rank-and-file members of the FBI and the American public. When you have that happen, you can’t serve in that capacity.â€
Trump tweeted:
Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017
When Acting Director McCabe was asked about confidence in Comey during his Senate Intelligence Committee testimony, he said, “I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity, and it has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him. I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day. We are a large organization. We are 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinion about many things, but I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of the FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.”
Video of McCabe:
McCabe’s answer isn’t going to go over well with Trump because it exposed the White House’s reason for firing Comey as a lie. The reaction of people within the FBI has made it clear that Comey did not lose the confidence of those he was leading. The problem was that Trump wasn’t confident that Comey was going to back off of the Russia investigation. Comey wouldn’t protect Trump, so he was fired.
Trump has enraged the FBI, and if he continues to try to squash the Russia investigation, the FBI is going to fight back.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
