White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday stood by her claim that the “rank and file” at the FBI lost faith in ousted Director James Comey, even after the bureau’s acting chief contradicted her.

“I’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the president’s decision,” Sanders said, telling a reporter that she and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe “may have to agree to disagree.”

Sanders made her assertion even though she admitted she doesn’t “know that many people in the FBI.”

“I’m sure that there are some people that are disappointed,” she said. “But I’ve certainly heard from a large number of individuals, and that’s just myself.”

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Her comments came hours after McCabe dismissed Sanders’s eyebrow-raising claim that President Trump fired Comey in large part because “the rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director.”



"Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day," McCabe said during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

He said that serving alongside Comey was the “greatest privilege of his career,” adding that the “the vast majority of employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to director Comey” and that it would be “not accurate” to say otherwise.

Pressed on whether McCabe has a better understanding of FBI employees’ feelings toward Comey, Sanders said Thursday that she did not want to “get into a back and forth on who has a better handle.”

“Again, I’ve heard from multiple individuals that are happy about the president’s decision and I know that it was the right one,” she said. “I believe that most people of the people that we’ve talked to also believe it was the right decision.”