Former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning that he knew in May of 2017 that he had enough evidence to prove President Donald Trump committed the crime of attempting to obstruct justice.
During the interview, MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle asked McCabe if he would file obstruction of justice charges against Trump right now if he was still working for the Justice Department.
McCabe said that was a loaded question, but he also admitted that he believed the possibility that Trump tried to obstruct justice right after he fired former FBI Director James Comey was extremely strong. So strong, in fact that it warranted opening an FBI investigation into Trump’s behavior.
“I was confident, in May of 2017, that we had ample facts to indicate the president may have committed obstruction of justice,” McCabe said. “At that time, it was abundantly clear to me we had enough facts to indicate that crime had been committed.”
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Co-host Joe Scarborough also asked McCabe if in his career he had ever seen a public official pressure the FBI to drop a case or an investigation of somebody who worked under them.
McCabe responded:
“I can’t speak for everybody, but in my experience across 21 years, running many public corruption cases, I have never seen or hear anything like this before.”
McCabe was then asked if he believed that Trump had fired Comey on orders from the Russian government, and McCabe obliquely replied that it’s a “possibility that exists in a counterintelligence investigation.”
McCabe dropped a major bombshell yesterday when he claimed that the FBI told a bipartisan group of lawmakers in 2017 that it had opened an investigation into President Donald Trump — and none of the Republicans in the group objected.
Yesterday we also reported that according to McCabe, Republicans in Congress who are covering for Trump‘s potential crimes did so while knowing that the FBI is investigating the president.
McCabe told Scott Pelley in his 60 Minutes interview aired last Sunday that the Department of Justice had meetings in May of 2017 to discuss whether Donald Trump’s cabinet could be rallied to oust him from power.
CLICK HERE to watch Andrew McCabe on Morning Joe
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
