- The Washington Times - Saturday, March 17, 2018

President Trump celebrated the firing of former FBI honcho Andrew McCabe, lauding his ouster days before retirement as a “great day for Democracy.”

“Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy,” the president tweeted early Saturday. “Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!”

Mr. McCabe and former FBI Director James Comey, whom Mr. Trump fired last year, have been frequently criticized by the president for turning the bureau into a political weapon.

Mr. McCabe, the No. 2 man at the FBI before he took leave in January pending retirement, has been linked to mishandling the Hillary Clinton email investigation and attempts to undermine Mr. Trump’s presidency.

He was fired Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the Justice Department’s inspector general recommended the dismissal based on an internal review.

“The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement.

Mr. McCabe, who could lose an FBI pension worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, responded in a statement saying that he was the victim of Mr. Trump’s “ongoing war with the FBI.”

“The attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement and intelligence professionals more generally,” he said.

Later Saturday, the president chided liberal media outlets for their coverage of the McCabe story.

“The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired,” the president tweeted. “How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!”

He was referring to Mr. McCabe’s wife, Jill, who ran unsuccessfully for a Virginia state senate seat in 2015. Her campaign received nearly $700,000 in donations from the super PAC of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend, as well as from the Democratic Party of Virginia. Mr. McAuliffe was governor of Virginia at the time.

During that time, Mr. McCabe was running the FBI’s Washington field office, which was working on the probe of Mrs. Clinton’s email server.

Dave Boyer contributed to this report.

• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.

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