Angus King: McCabe firing seemed ‘mean-spirited’

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) on Sunday criticized the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, saying it was “rushed” and “mean-spirited.”

“My problem is the timing and the way it all worked. It just seemed mean-spirited to come down on a guy within 48 hours of his scheduled retirement,” King said on CBS’s “Face The Nation.” 

“It appears to have been compressed in order to take vengeance on this guy for some reason, and I don’t think that’s the way we should be governing,” he added.

{mosads}Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe on Friday for not being forthcoming with investigators during an inspector general review.

President Trump, who has personally attacked McCabe in the past, quickly praised that decision on Twitter, accusing McCabe of corrupt tactics and calling his firing a “great day for Democracy.”  

McCabe issued a statement after he was fired in which he argued that his ouster was driven by the Trump administration in an effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

King on Sunday said he’d like to see what an upcoming inspector general report says about McCabe’s behavior and any wrongdoing. Even if it’s shown McCabe violated FBI protocol or other rules, King said, he believes his firing “was clearly rushed.”

“I think there are questions about that and whether the administration was putting pressure on the Justice Department to take action,” he said.