Senator Graham Promises FBI and Justice Investigation after Explosive Interview: NPR

Senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged to launch an investigation into whether the highest officials of the Justice Department and the FBI had planned an "administrative coup" to oust President Trump from office.

Kevin Bishop, spokesman for Graham, told NPR that no date of hearing had been set yet.

The senator, who was attending the security conference in Munich, Germany, spoke with CBS's Face the Nation after an interview with former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, broadcast on 60 minutes.

In what many call an explosive revelation, McCabe asked whether there was an "inappropriate relationship" between Trump and Russia, and that Justice officials had discussed whether power should be removed from Trump through the 25th amendment. He also said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had personally offered to wear a wire to secretly register Trump after firing former FBI director James Comey.

His remarks seem to synchronize with an anonymous group New York Times opinion piece on "the first murmurs within the cabinet invoking the 25th amendment".

Graham asked if McCabe's admission amounted to "an attempt at a bureaucratic state coup", saying the country needed the truth.

"I will talk to McCabe's country and people from the Department of Justice and their behavior," said Graham. "Did they take the law into their own hands? Did they abuse the mandate process of FISA because they had a political agenda? Did their hatred of Trump go? so far that they have abandoned their role as law enforcement agents and have become advocates of a political cause "We will get to the bottom of things."

He also said that he would summon Rosenstein and McCabe to appear where he should.

McCabe spoke with NPR Morning edition and stated that he was seeking to put an end to the charges of attempted coup d'etat. "At no time did I understand that there was a legitimate effort going on from Rod [Rosenstein] or to dismiss the president under the 25th Amendment or in any other way, "he said.

He added that no one had followed up on Rosenstein's alleged proposal to carry a wire.

He said he was "taken aback by Rosenstein's offer". McCabe said he spoke to "lawyers at the FBI headquarters about this – we all agreed that it was a horrible idea and that it was not something we were going to pursue."

Rosenstein denied having suggested wearing a thread.

Long before William Barr was sworn in as Attorney General last week, questions arose as to how long he would remain in the service of justice. He is expected to remain during a transitional period and his timing of departure has not yet been determined, reports Phil Ewing, of NPR.

As for McCabe, a grand jury was charged last year to review his case after the Inspector General of the Justice Department determined that he had induced the investigators into error about contacts with a the Wall Street newspaper reporter, as reported by NPR's Carrie Johnson. It is unclear whether he will face criminal charges.

Referring to the survey of the Inspector General, McCabe said: "I do not think they were independent or fair in the conduct of the investigation or in its findings."

He was fired several hours before being able to collect his pension and sickness benefits.

Asset m said on Twitter that "McCabe's story is even more disturbing". But he seemed to believe McCabe's description that Rosenstein was proposing to carry a thread himself, saying that the two men "seemed to plan a very illegal act."