Andrew McCabe, the recently fired former FBI deputy director, announced Monday that he would cease accepting donations for his legal defense fund at 7:00 p.m. ET after raising more than three times his original goal.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe last month, days before McCabe would have been eligible for his pension, for making “an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lack[ing] candor – including under oath – on multiple occasions.”
At press time, the legal defense fund, hosted on a GoFundMe page, had raised $538,246, with donations flowing in every couple minutes.
“The outpouring of support on GoFundMe has been simply overwhelming and has led to contributions that have left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful,” McCabe said in a statement Monday (read the full statement below). “The GoFundMe campaign began organically, with generous people spontaneously giving to accounts that others had set up.”
“I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance,” he added. “However, as reports of additional OIG investigations, congressional oversight hearings, and misleading information about the circumstances of my firing have continued to emerge, the need for substantial resources for a legal team has become clear.”
McCabe has argued that he was authorized to make certain disclosures to the media, and that his firing was an attempt to discredit him as a potential witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
“I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed shortly after his firing.
Read McCabe’s full statement, prefaced by a statement from Melissa Schwartz of the Bromwich Group — a consulting firm founded by McCabe’s lawyer, Michael Bromwich — below:
As of 7pm ET today, the Andrew McCabe Legal Fund will cease accepting donations on GoFundMe. The donations have more than tripled the original goal, which is nothing short of astonishing. The funds generated will in the very near future be transferred to a more formal legal defense trust.
Below is a statement from Andrew McCabe:
“The outpouring of support on GoFundMe has been simply overwhelming and has led to contributions that have left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful. The GoFundMe campaign began organically, with generous people spontaneously giving to accounts that others had set up. I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance. However, as reports of additional OIG investigations, congressional oversight hearings, and misleading information about the circumstances of my firing have continued to emerge, the need for substantial resources for a legal team has become clear. The fact is that if I am going to continue taking a stand against the unfair way I have been treated, I will need the help of a talented and courageous team behind me. Hopefully our efforts, fueled by this incredible support, will encourage others to stand up for themselves, and the truth, as well. It is not lost on me that each contribution reflects not just someone’s well wishes, but also their acknowledgement that something in this situation is not fair or just. We wish to thank every donor from the bottom of our hearts for their support.”
