The report from the GOP members of the House committee has been criticized as partisan. It also disputed a key finding from the intelligence community that Russia had developed a preference for the Republican nominee during the election. Democrats on the House committee called the Republicans’ move to end the probe a “capitulation” to the White House.
A January 2017 assessment from intelligence agencies found with “high confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government expressed a “clear preference” for Donald Trump in the campaign, and sought to influence the election on his behalf as part of Putin’s “longstanding desire to undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic order.”
Related: McCabe: Trump wants to destroy me to stop Mueller probe
McCabe’s firing and Trump’s response early Saturday sparked outrage from Democrats and former members of the intelligence community who have cast the decision to remove McCabe as something akin to a political hit-job.
John Brennan, the former director of the CIA under President Barack Obama and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center under President George W. Bush, slammed what he described as Trump’s “venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption.”
In firing McCabe, Sessions was acting accepting the recommendation of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which proposed the termination based on the findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general. That office has been examining the bureau’s handling of the Clinton e-mail investigation.
Sessions said in a statement Friday that McCabe’s firing came “after an extensive and fair investigation.” He said that “Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.”
McCabe in a statement said “I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.”
Related: Read former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe’s full statement after firing
“This 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,” McCabe said. “It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day.
McCabe, who has served with the FBI for 21 years, turns 50 on Sunday, which would have made him eligible for certain substantial retirement benefits. His firing puts his federal pension in jeopardy.