Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview aired Thursday that he worried that investigations into President Donald Trump would be shutdown after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.
So he conspired with other top Department of Justice officials to wiretap and eventually overthrow the president, he told CBS News.
According to CBS, which conducted the interview, McCabe said Justice Department officials discussed bringing the Cabinet together to consider using the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office — because they didn’t like that he fired Comey.
McCabe, a frequent target of Trump’s ire, described in the interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he was greatly alarmed by the possibility that the president “might have won the White House with the aid of the government of Russia.”
There has been no evidence that any kind of collusion took place between the Trump campaign and Russia, despite years of speculation in the mainstream media. Trump has constantly denied the allegation.
McCabe, who was appointed as Deputy Director of the FBI by former President Barack Obama, said he assembled his investigators the day after his boss, Comey, was fired to discuss how to keep the investigations moving forward in the event he was also fired or reassigned.
“I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground, in an indelible fashion,” McCabe said. “That were I removed quickly, or reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace.”
McCabe was fired from the FBI last year after the Justice Department inspector general concluded that he had lied during an internal investigation into anti-Trump leaks. The allegations have been referred for investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington.
Despite admitting that he conspired to potentially overthrow the Democratically-elected White House, McCabe claims he was still improperly fired. McCabe said he was released from his job because of the Trump administration’s “war on the FBI.”
Trump gave a fiery response on Twitter Thursday to reports of the interview —
Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax – a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of “insurance policy” in case I won….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
….Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign – he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
The Justice Department also issued a statement saying that “based on (McCabe’s) personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
The interview is to air Sunday. CBS released an excerpt of the interview Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article