When FBI director James Comey was unceremoniously dumped the other night, everyone was totally shocked. That includes not only Comey himself but also the man who was forced to step into his position.
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe is appearing today in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
As part of his testimony, McCabe has made it very, very clear that he has no intention of going along with the lies being spread like so much cow manure by the Trump administration.
White House spokespeople, including the ever shrill KellyAnne Conway and Spicer stunt woman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have said that Comey was fired because he lost the confidence of Congress and of the FBI rank and file.
McCabe slapped that idea down today in no uncertain terms. He said:
“Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day. I can confidently tell you that the vast majority of employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.”
To make himself even clearer, McCabe said that it was the “greatest privilege” of his professional life to have had the chance to work with Director Comey.
In firing Director Comey, the White House insisted that their action had nothing at all to do with the Russia investigation. They have tried repeatedly to minimize the importance of the probe, calling it a “hoax,” and saying its time to move on.
Just yesterday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders referred to the Russia probe by calling it “probably one of the smallest things that they’ve got going on their plate.”
The acting director was quick to call that claim false, too. He told the Senate committee that the work being done by the FBI to find any and all ties between Putin and Trump is “highly significant.”
The Senators also asked Mr. McCabe about one bizarre line in Trump’s letter to Comey. In the letter that Trump sent to Comey to tell him he was fired, he specifically mentioned the Russia investigation. The investigation that he said had nothing to do with the firing. But for some reason, Trump included one sentence that thanked Comey by saying:
“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation…”
It would obviously be very unusual for the FBI director to be providing updates and information to the White House while it’s being investigated for possible criminal activity. Nobody from the Trump team has responded to questions about when those “three” occasions happened, or under what circumstances.
Naturally, most of Washington is wondering if they ever happened at all.
Acting Director McCabe was quick to reassure the Senators that under his watch there’d be no such updating and no working together with the White House to answer the Russia questions.
He also promised to let the Senate Intelligence Committee know right away if there was any effort by the Trump administration to impede the investigation.
This guy has no intention of acting as one of Trump’s minions. He has no intention of supporting or carrying on the many lies they’ve spread.
So I guess it’s time to place bets on how long it will be before he’s fired. Or before he’s replaced by one of the Trump boys or Jared Kushner.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
