Trump Celebrates McCabe’s Firing: ‘A Great Day For Democracy’

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 8: (AFP OUT) US President Donald J. Trump speaks during a meeting with members of his Cabinet, in the Cabinet Room of the White House March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC, (Photo by Michael Reynold... WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 8: (AFP OUT) US President Donald J. Trump speaks during a meeting with members of his Cabinet, in the Cabinet Room of the White House March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC, (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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President Trump celebrated the firing of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, just two days before McCabe was eligible for his pension, calling it a “great day for democracy.”

“Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy,” Trump wrote in a tweet just after midnight Friday, a few hours after the news broke. “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!”

McCabe has given a very different version of events. In a strongly-worded statement, he said his firing was trying to discredit him as a witness in the investigation into the ouster of former FBI director James Comey and part of a broader push by the Trump administration to “politicize” law enforcement.

The President and his allies have for months smeared the 21-year FBI veteran as a partisan, in part because his wife ran and lost a Democratic state legislative campaign in 2015.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the decision to fire McCabe, citing a yet-to-be-released Justice Department inspector general report that he said determined McCabe made an “unauthorized disclosure” to the press and “lacked candor” in the IG’s investigation.

The IG report into the handling of matters related to the 2016 election touches on leaks McCabe condoned to the media about the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

McCabe stepped down in January ahead of the IG report’s release, using his unpaid vacation days to go on leave.

Trump followed up with two more tweets later Saturday, criticizing “corruption” at the DOJ and FBI and mocking the “Fake News” reaction to over McCabe’s firing.

This post has been updated.

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