Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in an interview with the Today Show, said he informed a bipartisan group of congressional leaders known as the ‘Gang of 8’ that the bureau had initiated a counterintelligence investigation into President Donald Trump.
According to McCabe, the group consisting of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Richard Burr, Mark Warner, and Devin Nunes, failed to raise a single objection.
“The purpose of the briefing was to let our congressional leadership know exactly what we’d been doing,” McCabe told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
Guthrie queried whether or not any members of the bipartisan group raised objections.
“That’s the important part here, Savannah,” McCabe continued. “No one objected. Not on legal grounds, not on constitutional grounds, and not based on the facts.”
McCabe claims that he told McConnell, Ryan & other members of the “Gang of 8” that he had opened an investigation into @realDonaldTrump immediately after Comey was fired.
Not a single lawmaker objected, he says.
“No one objected.” pic.twitter.com/EIz4ffZ5sQ
— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) February 19, 2019
According to CNBC, no spokespersons for the group had confirmed McCabe’s claims.
Will Trump Respond?
While McConnell, Nunes, and Burr are a bit of a surprise, the fact that then-Speaker Paul Ryan let this information go without uttering a word might be viewed as more betrayal in the eyes of the President.
Thus far, however, Trump has concentrated his ire on McCabe himself, repeatedly referring to him as a liar.
“So many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. “He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged.”
“Look(s) like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught,” he said referencing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
He later cited a Fox News report to suggest that the pair had committed treason.
“The biggest abuse of power and corruption scandal in our history, and it’s much worse than we thought. Andrew McCabe (FBI) admitted to plotting a coup (government overthrow) when he was serving in the FBI, before he was fired for lying & leaking.” @seanhannity @FoxNews Treason!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2019
Blames Brennan
President Trump has blamed Barack Obama’s CIA Director James Brennan in the past for the entire investigatory premise through a quote from political commentator, Dan Bongino.
That statement included a reference to the ‘Gang of 8‘ being briefed on the Steele dossier.
“John Brennan is panicking. He has disgraced himself, he has disgraced the Country, he has disgraced the entire Intelligence Community. He is the one man who is largely responsible for the destruction of American’s faith in the Intelligence Community and in some people at the….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
….top of the FBI. Brennan started this entire debacle about President Trump. We now know that Brennan had detailed knowledge of the (phony) Dossier…he knows about the Dossier, he denies knowledge of the Dossier, he briefs the Gang of 8 on the Hill about the Dossier, which….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
…they then used to start an investigation about Trump. It is that simple. This guy is the genesis of this whole Debacle. This was a Political hit job, this was not an Intelligence Investigation. Brennan has disgraced himself, he’s worried about staying out of Jail.” Dan Bongino
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
Former US attorney Joe DiGenova concurs, adding that he spearheaded “a criminal plot by senior people” including James Comey, “to suborn the presidency of the United States through the use of false evidence.”
“It is quite obvious that John Brennan was at the head of the group of people who were going to create a counterintelligence investigation against Trump,” DiGenova claimed.
Still, it’s rather remarkable that once the wheels were in motion, McConnell, Ryan or the other Republicans didn’t raise an objection to what was clearly an evidence-free witch hunt. What were they thinking?