Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) chairs the House intelligence committee (Photo: Screen grab/Fox News)

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe may have been fired, but he still needs to tell the committee what he knows:



"Well, as you know, we've had the FBI under investigation by our committee for a long time -- FISA abuse and other matters. So it doesn't surprise me that Mr. McCabe went. However, our investigation still is ongoing," Nunes told Fox News's Sean Hannity Monday night.





"Mr. McCabe still owes us answers no matter where he's working, and eventually he's going to have to come forward and provide those answers."



Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe Friday night after the Justice Department's inspector-general (appointed by President Barack Obama) and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility both recommended that McCabe be fired for leaking to the press, then lying about it under oath.



McCabe released a statement saying that the IG is investigating him for information McCabe "chose to share with a reporter."



"As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that," McCabe wrote. "It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director (FBI Director James Comey), were aware of the interaction with the reporter."



That may create problems for fired FBI Director James Comey.



In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last May, Comey told Sen. Chuck Grassley -- under oath -- that he was "never" an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation; and "no," he never authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation.



"So somebody is lying, right?" Nunes told Hannity on Monday. "So we don't know who, but those stories don't jive. I'm sure -- this is all out there now, they are going to start to cover up their tracks, but this is why we have to have them back in to answer these questions."



Chairman Nunes is among the Republicans who are calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the FBI and the DOJ.



"I think at this point, there's so many crimes that have to be investigated, they need to get somebody over there who's going to run a thorough investigation and maybe work with the IG when that report comes out."



The DOJ inspector-general is expected to release his report on how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation in a matter of weeks.



Meanwhile, Nunes said his committee continues to investigate alleged FISA surveillance abuse, conspiracy, obstruction, misleading Congress and abuse of power.



"So there's many crimes that have to be looked at, but I keep reminding people, Congress cannot prosecute. All we can do is make a referral to the Justice Department, and then the challenge is, is who we are going to refer it to, because as you know, we don't know who over the Justice Department is involved in this, who would have to recuse themselves because of their involvement and their knowledge of what happened over the last few years."



Nunes said his committee wants to know who at the FBI and DOJ decided not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified emails; and who decided to open the Trump-Russia investigation without "credible evidence."



"That's what we just can't have in this country, where you have political dirt that's paid for by one political party and used against another, especially using our foreign intelligence capabilities. It's just -- it just can't happen in this country," Nunes said.