McCabe says he was fired as FBI deputy director because he is a crucial witness in Russia investigation

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe – who was fired by the Trump administration but has said he was terminated because he is a crucial witness in the Russia investigation – raised around $300,000 in seven hours to help cover costs defending against government investigations, a funding website showed.

A statement on a GoFundMe page unveiled on Thursday said the goal was to raise $150,000 from the public, but it was raised to $250,000 because of a response that “has been remarkable and beyond our expectations”.

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The action represents an escalation of the battle between McCabe and the administration over his firing amid heavy criticism by President Donald Trump. It also raises the prospect that McCabe could legally challenge his termination in the future.

“Andrew McCabe’s FBI career was long, distinguished, and unblemished,” the statement said. “His reward for that has been a termination that was completely unjustified, amidst repeated ad hominem attacks by the president of the United States.”

On 16 March, US attorney general Jeff Sessions announced that he was terminating McCabe after the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded the FBI veteran had leaked information to the press and misled investigators about his actions.

The report used as the basis for the firing has still not been made public. Following McCabe’s termination, Trump took to Twitter, where he declared it was a “great day for democracy”.

McCabe’s dismissal came less than two days before his 50th birthday, when he would have been eligible to retire with his full pension.

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McCabe has disputed the findings by the inspector general’s office. He said he is facing administration retaliation because he is a crucial witness into whether Trump may have tried to obstruct a criminal investigation now being led by Robert Mueller into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

While he was the FBI’s deputy director, McCabe was deeply involved in overseeing investigations related to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and whether Russia colluded with Trump’s campaign. Trump has denied any collusion occurred and Russia has denied meddling.

McCabe reportedly kept contemporaneous notes following his conversations with Trump, as well as notes related to former FBI director James Comey’s conversations with Trump.

Trump fired Comey in 2017, prompting deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller as special counsel. Trump later acknowledged that he fired Comey over “this Russia thing”.