Ousted FBI deputy Andrew McCabe has said his firing is part of the president's 'war' on the Bureau and that he was only shown the door because he could back-up what James Comey previously alleged about the president's alleged interference with the Russia probe.

McCabe made the remarks on Friday after being shown the door by a celebratory Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

They said he had lied under oath and knew of 'corruption at the highest level' but did nothing to stop it.

McCabe, who worked alongside Comey in his investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server, protested.

He believes he is the latest casualty of the president's 'war on the FBI', he said.

'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.

'The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President.

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Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (above) was fired on Friday, just two days before he was set to get a full pension. He claimed he'd been 'singled out' in Trump's 'war' on the FBI

'The OIG’s (Office of Inspector General) focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn,' he said in a statement.

Comey testified last year that the president asked him to halt his investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his alleged dealings with Russian officials.

He maintains that his refusal to comply was what got him fired in May.

Trump has always argued that it was his botched attempt to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server that was to blame for the sacking.

The president has long called for McCabe's departure but said the decision was up to Sessions.

On Friday, he celebrated on Twitter once it was official, writing: ' Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!' Trump continued. Trump fired Comey as FBI director last May.

AG Jeff Sessions (above) said that internal DOJ and FBI investigations into McCabe's conduct had concluded that he had 'lacked candor - including under oath - on multiple occasions'

President Donald Trump (pictured on Thursday) has long voiced complaints about McCabe

The latest sacking came just two days before McCabe planned to retire after more than 20 years of FBI service, yanking the full government pension he would have otherwise qualified for. The pension was said to be worth about $1.8million.

Sessions explained McCabe's firing by saying that the Justice Department Inspector General and FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility - an office stacked with career employees and McCabe loyalists - had found serious lapses on McCabe's part.

McCabe claims he was fired because he can corroborate former FBI Director James Comey's accounts of his discussions with Trump over the Russia probe

'Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department's senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately,' said Sessions.

Sessions said in a statement that investigators 'concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor - including under oath - on multiple occasions.'

The move to fire McCabe was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an IG report expected to conclude that McCabe was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it reviewed the bureau's handling of the Clinton's email investigation.

McCabe served as acting FBI director from May 9 to August 2 of 2017, between Comey's firing and Christopher Wray's confirmation in that role.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called McCabe a 'bad actor' on Thursday, referring to his decision to allow FBI officials to speak to reporters about a Clinton Foundation investigation in 2016

On Thursday, the White House signaled that it took a dim view of former FBI Deputy Director McCabe's eleventh-hour effort to avoid being fired just days before his retirement was due to begin and he qualified for a lucrative government pension.

At the same time, the Trump administration made it clear that the president isn't eager to take responsibility for firing him.

'That's a determination that we would leave up to Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday.

'But we do think that it is well-documented that he has had some very troubling behavior. And by most accounts [he's] a bad actor and should have some causes for concern.'

Terminating McCabe 'would be a decision that the Department of Justice would have to make,' Sanders added, punting the ball down Constitution Avenue.

McCabe had planned to retire on Sunday with full benefits.

He stepped down from his active DOJ role on January 29, but had continued to draw a salary in advance of his planned retirement date following a 22-year federal law enforcement career.

His leave from active duty notably coincided with the public release of the House Intelligence Committee memo on alleged FBI abuses of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) warrants, which came out on February 2.

The memo alleged that McCabe signed one of the four FISC applications to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

Andrew McCabe full statement on being fired by Jeff Sessions Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe released the following statement following his firing on March 16, 2017 for alleged 'lack of candor' under oath: I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time. For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The president’s tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about it. No more. The investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI’s involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau and to make it clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed. The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the same type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them. But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people. Here is the reality: 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. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG’s focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursday’s comments from the White House are just the latest example of this. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work. I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I have always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was prevailed to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see. I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred. Advertisement

Those applications all cited the 'dirty dossier' funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign and complied by British ex-spy Christopher Steele.

The memo read in part: 'Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.'

On Thursday, McCabe was summoned to the Justice Department to plead his case in an effort to preserve his pension.

Sessions didn't meet with him personally, but McCabe sat down with senior attorneys in the department.

Trump has complained repeatedly about Sessions, carping that his unexpected recusal from investigations into claims of Trump campaign collusion with Russians sparked an independent counsel probe that he sees as needless and intrusive.

Trump has frequently singled out McCabe in arguing that FBI leadership is biased against his administration.

He attacked McCabe during his White House campaign trail, following the revelation that his wife had accepted campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally, during a failed state Senate run.

'Problem is that the acting head of the FBI & the person in charge of the Hillary investigation, Andrew McCabe, got $700,000 from H for wife!' Trump tweeted last July.

The FBI has said McCabe received ethics approval and was not overseeing the Clinton investigation at the time.

The DOJ's Office of Inspector General, which investigated the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton classified email affair for more than a year, reportedly concluded that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak with a journalist for an October 2016 story in The Wall Street Journal.

The IG report, which led to the disciplinary recommendation against McCabe, has not yet been publicly released.

McCabe played key supervisory roles at the FBI during major events including the Boston Marathon bombing.

The Justice Department sidestepped questions about McCabe on Thursday, telling the Associated Press only that it 'follows a prescribed process by which an employee may be terminated.'

'That process includes recommendations from career employees and no termination decision is final until the conclusion of that process,' an agency spokeswoman said.