Tuesday on ABC’s “The View,” former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was confronted by co-host Meghan McCain about what was inspiring his outspokenness on his book tour.

McCain said, “I don’t believe you’re a reliable narrator. I’m not convinced this isn’t just some kind of PR campaign to stop yourself from getting indicted. You were fired at the recommendation of the FBI — which, in your book, you cite four times how great of an organization it is, for your lack of candor. I would like you to say right here on national TV that you were not a source for The New York Times. You were never a source for The New York Times or any other publication — considering that is what you were accused of lying about. Basically, were you ever a leaker to The New York Times?”

McCabe said, “Absolutely not. Not at any time ever. You should understand, Meghan, when I was serving as deputy director, I was one of two people in the FBI that had the authority to disclose information to the media. That is an FBI policy. It’s baked into the way that we run media relations in the organization. So I transacted on issues regarding the media every single day.”

McCain asked, “Then why did James Comey deny the claim that he approved your leaks to the press?”

McCabe said, “I don’t know why Jim Comey doesn’t remember the conversations we had in the same way I do. It’s understandable—he was under an enormous amount of stress at the time. He had a lot of other more important things to worry about. I can’t explain why he doesn’t remember them.”

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