Acting FBI Head Undercuts White House Claims on Comey, Probe
In ways both overt and subtle, the acting director of the FBI on Thursday undermined White House explanations for the firing of former Director James Comey and contradicted the administration's characterizations of an investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the presidential election.
Andrew McCabe, testifying before Congress in place of his fired boss, told lawmakers a counterintelligence investigation that a White House spokeswoman dismissed a day earlier as "one of the smallest things" on the FBI's plate was actually "highly significant." And though the White House has asserted Comey lost the backing of rank-and-file agents, McCabe flatly said, "that is not accurate."
"I can tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees, enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey," said McCabe, who called it the "greatest privilege and honor in my professional life to work with him." Comey, he added, "enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day."
McCabe's testimony undercut a White House narrative that has evolved in the two days since Comey was ousted. The White House initially said President Donald Trump made the call at the recommendation of the top two officials at the Justice Department, but in an NBC News interview that aired Thursday, the president said he would have fired Comey even without the recommendation.
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