Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, citing "an unauthorized disclosure to the news media" and lacking "candor" with Justice Department investigators, two days before his retirement on Sunday.

The attorney general's decision makes McCabe, 49, a frequent target of attacks by President Donald Trump, ineligible for full retirement benefits derived from more than two decades of federal government service.

"I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Sessions said in a statement. "The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability."

McCabe immediately responded in a statement: "I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey."

He joined the FBI in 1996 and became No. 2 under former Director James Comey in early 2016.

McCabe briefly helmed the agency after President Donald Trump fired Comey in May 2016, abruptly taking leave in January after a report from the Justice Department's inspector general about his actions during a probe of the Clinton Foundation.

He told CNN on Friday that "I absolutely never misled the inspector general in any way."

McCable also slammed the termination as resulting from "a series of attacks designed to undermine my credibility and my reputation."

In his statement, Sessions said that the Justice Department's inspector general and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found that McCabe "had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and had lacked candor, including under oath, on multiple occasions."

He called the IG's investigation "extensive and fair," leading to a report on "allegations of misconduct" by McCabe that was provided to the FBI.

OPR, Sessions said, "reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending" McCabe's dismissal.

In its recommendation Wednesday, OPR said that "all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand," Sessions said.

The inspector general's report has yet to be made public.

McCabe was to turn 50 on Sunday, making him eligible for retirement benefits at an "enhanced" rate because he was a law-enforcement officer covered by the system for federal employees, according to news reports.

The IG announced a wide-ranging investigation last year into the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe — and Trump has repeatedly slammed McCabe's actions during the inquiry.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday described him as "a bad actor" to reporters in light of the IG's report.

"We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor and should have some cause for concern," she said at the daily briefing.

McCabe was at the Justice Department on Thursday with his lawyer to plead his case against termination.

In addition, Republicans on Capitol Hill have blasted McCabe, suggesting that Justice and FBI officials conspired against Trump when it began an investigation into the president's ties to Russia.

According to the IG's report, McCabe authorized FBI officials to talk to a reporter from The Wall Street Journal in October 2016 for a story on differing views within the FBI and Justice Department on how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated.

The report is also expected to allege that McCabe was not forthcoming with the agency about the media leak, which McCabe has denied.

In his attacks on McCabe, President Trump cited campaign contributions that his wife, Jill McCabe, had received during a failed run for the Virginia state Senate in 2015 from a political action committee of then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton ally.

Because McCabe was fired on Friday, he lost out on an annual pension of nearly $60,000 under formulas published by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for law-enforcement officers, according to news reports.

McCabe also most likely will be docked that amount until he reaches just under 57 years of age or as late as 62.

Further, McCabe most likely will also lose other benefits from serving in law enforcement, as well health and medical benefits.