Ex-FBI boss: Trump could be Russian asset... it is why we started inquiry

Allegations: Andrew McCabe made his claims to CNN
CNN
David Gardner20 February 2019

Donald Trump could be a Russian asset, former FBI chief Andrew McCabe has claimed.

The accusation came amid speculation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was preparing to release the results of his inquiry into allegations of collusion between Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign and the Kremlin. In an interview with CNN, presenter Anderson Cooper asked Mr McCabe: “Do you still believe the president could be a Russian asset?” He replied: “I think it’s possible. I think that’s why we started our investigation, and I’m really anxious to see where Mueller concludes that.”

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway hit back, branding Mr McCabe “a liar and a leaker”. Mr Trump has previously condemned the former FBI head as “a disgrace”.

Mr McCabe took the helm of the agency after James Comey was fired in May 2017. He was himself sacked in 2018, just two days before he was due to retire. During the interview with CNN, Mr McCabe added there was “an arguable basis” that a “federal crime has been committed” by Mr Trump when he dismissed Mr Comey.

He said: “This president is undermining the role of law enforcement, undermining the role of our intelligence infrastructure and negatively impacting the men and women of the FBI.”

His comments came days after Mr McCabe claimed deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had raised the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment in a bid to oust Mr Trump. Mr Rosenstein has denied the claims.

According to a report today in the New York Times, Mr Trump has publicly criticised the investigation into his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia more than 1,100 times since his inauguration.

The president has repeatedly called the inquiry a “witch hunt”. The New York Times claimed that he had criticised Mr Mueller’s investigation 361 times, Hillary Clinton and her campaign 295 times, former FBI director James Comey 148 times and the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence agencies 277 times. He has defended Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russia 61 times.

It also emerged today that Democrat politicians in the House of Representatives had launched an inquiry into claims senior White House officials pushed a project to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump is said to have met nuclear developers earlier this month to discuss the plan, despite the objections of ethics and national security officials.

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