President Trump was not involved in Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe's decision to step down on Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said just moments after McCabe's departure became public.

"I can tell you, none of this decision was made ... at the White House," Sanders told reporters on Monday.

Trump has previously criticized McCabe because his wife accepted six-figure campaign contributions from a close Hillary Clinton ally when she was running for state elected office. McCabe at the time was playing a leading role on the FBI's investigation of Clinton's classified email handling.

"The president stands by his previous comments," Sanders said Monday. "But in terms of the situation today, as I've said, we've seen the reports, just as all of you have."

Sanders noted the White House has made more than 20 witnesses available for interviews with the special counsel and has provided tens of thousands of documents to investigators. She said the president has encouraged the FBI to conclude its investigation as quickly and thoroughly as possible so reporter can get "Russian fever out of their system once and for all."

McCabe's forced resignation came just days after FBI Director Christopher Wray viewed a classified congressional memo that Republicans describe as troubling evidence of bias at the FBI, and just weeks before the Justice Department's inspector general releases the results of its year-long investigation into whether political bias swayed investigative decisions ahead of the 2016 election.