When President Donald Trump took the shocking step of firing FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, he said Comey had “lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington.”

In the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Thursday hearing, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe refuted this assertion.

“That is not accurate,” the two-decade FBI veteran said in response to a question from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) about whether rank-and-file agents no longer supported Comey.

“Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day,” he elaborated. “We are a large organization, we are 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinions about many things. But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees, enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.”

Acting FBI Director McCabe: "Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI. And still does to this day." pic.twitter.com/7OE5U5K4QW — CSPAN (@cspan) May 11, 2017

McCabe, who worked closely with Comey for several years, also expressed personal admiration for his predecessor.

“I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard,” he said. “I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity, and it has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him.”