Trump got his wish and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe decided to turn in his papers.
Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.
Though Mr. McCabe’s retirement had been widely expected soon, his departure was nevertheless sudden. It added to what has already been a chaotic upheaval at the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump, who has responded to an investigation into his campaign with broadside attacks against both the bureau and the Justice Department.
As recently as last week, Mr. McCabe had told people he hoped to stay until he was eligible to retire in several weeks. Instead, he will immediately go on leave and retire on March 18.
His replacement, however, is David Bowditch, who is reputed to be a straight shooter, and, according to sources, a bad-ass: former police officer, SWAT leader, gang-buster, loyal to his fellow officers, and immune to political pressure.
Chris Wray just sent a 90-decibel message right into Trump’s earhole: “Come after whoever you want. There are a million more behind ’em. There is no stopping the FBI.” So good. So damn good.
So instead of getting a toady, Trump got a terminator.
Bonus Track: If you ever doubted for an instant that Trump could not rise to the level of maturity of your average eight-year-old, this should reassure you.
The day after President Donald Trump fired James Comey, he became so furious watching television footage of the ousted FBI director boarding a government-funded plane from Los Angeles back to Washington, D.C. that he called the bureau’s acting director, Andrew McCabe, to vent, according to multiple people familiar with the phone call.
Trump demanded to know why Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he had been fired, these people said. McCabe told the president he hadn’t been asked to authorize Comey’s flight, but if anyone had asked, he would have approved it, three people familiar with the call recounted to NBC News.
The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser — an apparent reference to a failed campaign for state office in Virginia that McCabe’s wife made in 2015.
McCabe replied: “OK, sir.” Trump then hung up the phone.
To his credit, he didn’t add “Neener, neener.”
