“I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier,” Dowd said.
Related: McCabe: Trump wants to destroy me to stop Mueller probe
Dowd went on to clarify that he was not calling for Mueller to be fired, but that he wants the investigation to end in light of “revelations” after McCabe’s termination.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions accepted the FBI’s recommendation to fire McCabe Friday, after an internal Justice Department review concluded that he made “an unauthorized disclosure” to media and “lacked candor” on multiple occasions.
McCabe swiftly hit back, arguing that he was fired as a part of “this administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation.”
Dowd’s comments Saturday add fuel to the firestorm surrounding the FBI deputy director’s termination, which some Democrats and former members of the intelligence community are likening to a political hit-job.
McCabe has since hired Michael Bromwich, the ex-inspector general of the Justice Department, as his lawyer to represent him in the firing, The Daily Beast first reported Saturday.
“Bromwich knows the Justice Department and the FBI inside out,” Betsy Woodruff, the Daily Beast reporter who broke the story, told MSNBC host Joy Reid. “I think that’s part of the reason that we saw such an immediate firing back from McCabe last night.”
Related: Trump’s gripes against McCabe included wife’s politics, Comey’s ride home
Dowd told NBC News he decided to speak out on the issue “in a personal capacity,” stressing that his remarks were not reflective of President Trump’s beliefs.
But despite the clarification, Dowd’s call to end the investigation left some Democrats concerned that Mueller’s ongoing Russia investigation could be threatened.
Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chair of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, focused on the point in a tweet Saturday.
“Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now,” he wrote.