FBI deputy director leaving post ahead of planned retirement
Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of Donald Trump, has stepped down taking the FBI and White House by surprise.
Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe has stepped down following months of criticism from Donald Trump about his family links to the Democrats.
The decision appears to have caught both the FBI and the White House by surprise and will be welcomed by the president who was a regular critic of the 49-year-old McCabe.
Mr McCabe told FBI colleagues early today that it would be his last day with the agency after more than 20 years. He was expected to retire in March, but decided to leave earlier for reasons he did not publicly disclose.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said today the White House had nothing to do with Mr McCabe’s early departure from the job.
However Mr Trump has previously questioned Mr McCabe’s impartiality because his wife, Jill McCabe, ran as a Democrat for a Virginia state Senate seat in 2015 using almost $500,000 in funds from a political action committee controlled by a close friend of Hillary Clinton.
Last week it was revealed that Mr Trump asked Mr McCabe who he voted for in a meeting between the two men in May shortly after the president had fired then FBI director James Comey.
Mr McCabe replied that he did not vote but told colleagues later he found the president’s question “disturbing’’.
However critics have asked why Mr McCabe, when appointed FBI deputy in February 2016 went on the oversee the investigation into Ms Clinton’s misuse of a private email server and a separate probe into donations to the Clinton Foundation. In October 2016 Mr McCabe recused himself from the Clinton probes.
In December Mr Trump tweeted: “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?”
The Attorney-General Jeff Sessions reportedly pressured FBI director Christopher Wray to replace Mr McCabe. It was also reported that Mr Wray threatened to resign rather than replace his deputy, although Mr Trump has denied this.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia.
Women egged in anti-Semitic attack at Bondi Beach
Three men allegedly set upon a number of women on Saturday night in Sydney's east, throwing eggs at them, with police believing they were targeted because of the clothes they were wearing.
‘Hunted down and locked up’: PM condemns latest anti-Semitic attack
Anthony Albanese has condemned a spate of anti-Semitic hate crimes which has culminated in the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives outside Sydney, declaring the perpetrators 'would not succeed' creating hate and division.