McCabe: No one in Gang of Eight has opposed a Trump counter-intelligence investigation

FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, fired, said Tuesday that no Gang of Eight gang member had "objected" when he informed him in May 2017 that the FBI had opened a counterintelligence investigation into President Donald Trump for his ties to Russia.

McCabe, who was then acting acting director of the FBI following Trump's sudden decision to sack director James Comey, said in an interview on NBC's "TODAY Show" that no one in the briefing had opposed the bureau's investigation that Trump would be used as a Russian asset – "nor for legal, constitutional or fact-based reasons".

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The initial purpose of the information meeting with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate, as well as the chairs and members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, was to let our congressional leaders know exactly what we did in the wake of Comey's shooting, "McCabe said.

The former deputy director shared his comments as he embarked on a press tour to promote a new revealing book of his time under Trump, before being fired from the FBI for allegedly missing the truth. with investigators about his interactions with journalists.

The president's allies seized McCabe's public confirmation that he had opened a counterintelligence investigation and an investigation into the obstruction of the judicial system to denounce a conspiracy against the president. They argued that McCabe's revelations, if true, reinforce Trump's allegations of bias in agencies investigating his campaign.

On Tuesday, McCabe challenged the insinuation made by some of his critics that he had made the decision to investigate Trump himself, claiming that this decision was not false.

"Open a case of this nature, not something of an FBI director – not something that an acting FBI director would do yourself, is not it? It's a recommendation that came from my team, "he added. "I have reviewed it with our lawyers. I had a lengthy discussion with the Deputy Attorney General … and I told Congress what we had done.

The former deputy director of the FBI warned that the mere fact that investigations were opened did not mean that the agency had drawn conclusions to date.

But, he said, "you have to ask yourself if you think the president might have hindered justice in order to end our investigation of Russia, you have to ask why. Why would a US president not want the FBI to shed light on Russia's interference in our election? "

In an excerpt from the book published last week, McCabe described the Gang of Eight meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, at the time when the appointment of a special board to oversee the Gang of Eight. investigation of Russia was announced.

The office of Senate Intelligence Classification Officer Mark Warner (D-Va.) Declined to comment on McCabe's description, and spokespersons for other legislators present at the meeting did not immediately return the information. requests for comments.

McCabe also defended Tuesday his FBI dismissal, which took place last year, just hours before his retirement. The Attorney General of the day, Jeff Sessions, quotes a report from the DOJ's Inspector General that McCabe would have been dishonest several times about disclosing information about a reporter's investigation. which, according to many people, undermined its credibility.

The former deputy director announced that he was considering filing a lawsuit for his dismissal and said Tuesday that the report was skewed to justify political motives. He claimed that prior to the monitoring report, he had enjoyed a long and flawless tenure at the FBI.

"I have been writing and reading investigative reports for over 20 years. This report was unlike anything I've ever read before, "he said. "An investigation report includes all the evidence. It includes all the information, not just the facts that support the conclusion you want to draw. "

He refused to go into details, citing his pending trial.