The Justice Department has closed its case against former FBI director Andrew McCabe, declining to seek charges against him after he was ousted under Donald Trump in what he said was a politically motivated firing.

The decision resolves a criminal investigation that spanned more than a year and began with a referral from the Justice Department’s inspector general, which said Mr McCabe repeatedly lied about having authorised a subordinate to share information with a newspaper reporter for a 2016 article about an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

Mr McCabe’s lawyers said in a statement they were told in a phone call and letter that the case is closed and “no charges will be brought against him based on the facts”.

Mr McCabe, a frequent target of attacks from the president, has denied that he intentionally misled anyone. He has said his 2018 firing – for what the Justice Department called “lack of candour” – was politically motivated.

He sued the Justice Department in August, saying officials had used the inspector general’s conclusions as a pretext to rid the FBI of leaders Mr Trump perceived as biased against him.

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In a letter on Friday, prosecutors told Mr McCabe’s lawyers that they decided “not to pursue criminal charges against your client” after careful consideration.

“Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the government at this time, we consider the matter closed”, said the letter, signed by the chief of the US attorney’s office’s public corruption unit.