Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE's firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Andrew George McCabeGraham: Comey to testify about FBI's Russia probe, Mueller declined invitation Barr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' GOP votes to authorize subpoenas, depositions in Obama-era probe MORE Friday night was reminiscent of the "Saturday Night Massacre" during the waning days of the Nixon administration, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said.

"This'll be known as the 'Friday Night Slaughter,' " Brinkley told CNN. "The very idea that Jeff Sessions hasn't released something to inform the public of what this is, it was done in sort of a cloak of secrecy late at night, bizarre fashion. The fact that he was about to have his pension and they couldn't let it go."

"It's something very cruel and sad that's occurred tonight," he continued. "And I hope our country is going to wake up, I mean, Donald Trump is struggling for his life. He's paranoid, he decided McCabe was too close to Comey, and he decided to get rid of anybody and anything that's standing in his way of kind of survival mode right now."

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"I think that we can say tonight that the Trump White House is at war with the FBI," he added.

Nixon's infamous "Saturday Night Massacre" occurred when the president ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox and accepted the resignations of then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus.

Sessions fired McCabe on Friday following reports from the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which reported that McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and "lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions," according to a statement from Sessions.

McCabe denied the claim in a statement, arguing he was being targeted over his proximity to former FBI Director James Comey James Brien ComeyDemocrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Book: FBI sex crimes investigator helped trigger October 2016 public probe of Clinton emails Trump jabs at FBI director over testimony on Russia, antifa MORE, whom President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE fired last year. McCabe acknowledged he is a potential witness in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's investigation.

"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," McCabe said.

"The OIG's focus on me and this report became 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."