Andrew McCabe, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is stepping down, NBC News reports.
President Donald Trump, who has had a tumultuous relationship with the agency since taking office, has been publicly criticizing the deputy director for months. In July, Trump asked on Twitter why Attorney General Jeff Sessions hadn’t replaced McCabe, and continued to question the deputy director’s wife’s ties to the Clintons again in December.
Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017
Sessions began pressuring FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire McCabe, until Wray threatened to resign if his deputy was replaced. The New York Times reported in December that McCabe was likely planning to retire in 2018, when he became eligible for his pension, and NBC reports that he will remain on the FBI payroll until mid-March, at which point he can retire with full benefits.
