Cornyn: Hearing on McCabe firing would be ‘appropriate’

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on Monday that he supports holding a hearing on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s firing and wants to see the Justice Department’s watchdog report that led to the ouster.

“I think a hearing would be appropriate so we could see what the Office of Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility recommended,” Cornyn, the No. 2 GOP senator, told reporters.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe on Friday, just days before McCabe was set to retire, saying the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of Inspector General determined that he had leaked to the media and “lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.”

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McCabe has long been a target of President Trump’s, who, along with key Republicans on Capitol Hill, praised his firing.

Cornyn, who noted that the Justice Department and FBI watchdogs had been appointed by former President Obama, added that a hearing looking into the firing could be done under Congress’s “oversight responsibilities.”

“I think the FBI had some serious credibility issues. I think Mr. McCabe might have contributed to those. … I’m happy to have a hearing,” he said.

Cornyn is a member of both the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees, which both have jurisdiction over the FBI.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he would also welcome a hearing on McCabe’s firing.

“I think we owe it to the average American to have a hearing in the Judiciary Committee where Attorney General Sessions comes forward with whatever documentation he has about the firing, and give Mr. McCabe the chance to defend himself,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”