Aug. 8 (UPI) — Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Thursday seeking compensation for his “unlawful” termination.
McCabe’s lawsuit seeks his full law enforcement pension and all other benefits, privileges and rights currently being withheld by the administration after he was dismissed in 2018, just before he would have been set to receive these benefits on his 50th birthday.
The suit states that McCabe was subject to “improper political interference” in his firing, naming U.S. Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray as well as the Justice Department and the Department of Justice as defendants, adding that President Donald Trump is accountable for their actions.
“It was Trump’s unconstitutional plan and scheme to discredit and remove DOJ and FBI employees who were deemed to be his partisan opponents because they were not politically loyal to him,” the lawsuit states.
McCabe said that Trump demanded his personal allegiance and that the named defendants and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions knowingly acted in furtherance of Trump’s plan, adding that his termination was a “critical element.”
McCabe announced plans to step down from his position in January of 2018, but was terminated in March, less than two days before his scheduled retirement.
Sessions said the termination came after officials determined that McCabe had made an “unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor” on multiple occasions.
McCabe, however, issued a statement saying he was “singled out” for his role in investigating whether Trump’s campaign was linked to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election after former FBI Director James Comey was fired.
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