Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe was on Capitol Hill Thursday nominally to discuss worldwide threats, but that did not stop him from facing questions about reaction within the bureau to the dismissal of James Comey. McCabe said that the vast majority of FBI employees did not lose confidence in Comey, undercutting a claim to that effect from the Trump administration.
"Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day," McCabe told lawmakers during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. "It has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him."
President Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, citing the opinion of his Justice Department that Comey had mishandled the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
"We are a large organization. We are 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinions," McCabe continued. "But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey."
Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CBS Tuesday that Comey had been fired in part because he lost broad support at the FBI.
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01.17.2025