Virginia GOP Needles McCabe’s Wife After He Steps Down From FBI

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 -- Andrew McCabe, U.S. acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, attends a press conference at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 20, 2017. The world's largest "dark market" on the Internet, AlphaBay, has been shut down, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said Thursday. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 -- Andrew McCabe, U.S. acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, attends a press conference at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 20, 20... WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 -- Andrew McCabe, U.S. acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, attends a press conference at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 20, 2017. The world's largest "dark market" on the Internet, AlphaBay, has been shut down, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said Thursday. (Xinhua/Ting Shen via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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After FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe announced Monday that he would leave the bureau, the Virginia Republican Party pounced on the opportunity to remind everyone that McCabe’s wife lost her 2015 race for a state senate seat.

The tweet noting that Jill McCabe lost the race calls to mind President Donald Trump’s reported comment to Andrew McCabe when James Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he was fired as director of the bureau. Trump blasted McCabe over the flight and told him to ask his wife what it feels like to be a loser, per NBC News.

Jill McCabe’s Democratic campaign for public office and a campaign contribution from former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s super PAC, have played a big role in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign to oust Andrew McCabe. Trump has publicly chastised the FBI official over his wife’s ties to Democrats, and the White House reportedly pressured FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire McCabe.

McCabe was expected to leave the FBI, but not until March, when he will be eligible for his pension. His early departure appears to be linked to a forthcoming report from the Justice Department inspector general looking at the FBI’s probes into Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, as the New York Times and CNN both reported. Wray reportedly gave McCabe the choice of taking on a different position within the FBI or leaving.

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