FILE 鈥� In this June 7, 2017, file photo, then-FBI acting director Andrew McCabe listens during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
WASHINGTON 聽鈥� Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Sunday that a 鈥渃rime may have been committed鈥� when President Donald Trump fired the head of the FBI and tried to publicly undermine an investigation into his campaign鈥檚 ties to Russia.
McCabe also said in the interview with 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a possible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey.
鈥淎nd the idea is, if the president committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia鈥檚 malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintelligence investigator you have to ask yourself, 鈥淲hy would a president of the United States do that?鈥� McCabe said.
He added: 鈥淪o all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia?鈥�
Asked whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was onboard with the obstruction and counterintelligence investigations, McCabe replied, 鈥淎bsolutely.鈥�
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Sunday night.
McCabe also revealed that when Trump told Rosenstein to put in writing his concerns with Comey 鈥� a document the White House initially held up as justification for his firing 鈥� the president explicitly asked the Justice Department official to reference Russia in the memo. Rosenstein did not want to, McCabe said, and the memo that was made public upon Comey鈥檚 dismissal did not mention Russia and focused instead on Comey鈥檚 handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation.
鈥淗e explained to the president that he did not need Russia in his memo,鈥� McCabe said. 鈥淎nd the president responded, 鈥淚 understand that, I am asking you to put Russia in the memo anyway.鈥�
Trump said in a TV interview days after Comey鈥檚 firing that he was thinking of 鈥渢his Russia thing鈥� when he fired Comey.
Those actions, including a separate request by Trump that the FBI end an investigation into his first national adviser, Michael Flynn, made the FBI concerned that the president was illegally trying to obstruct the Russia probe.
鈥淧ut together, these circumstances were articulable facts that indicated that a crime may have been committed,鈥� McCabe said. 鈥淭he president may have been engaged in obstruction of justice in the firing of Jim Comey.鈥�
McCabe was fired from the Justice Department last year after being accused of misleading investigators during an internal probe into a news media disclosure. The allegation was referred to the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office in Washington for possible prosecution, but no charges have been brought. McCabe has denied having intentionally lied and said Sunday that he believes his firing was politically motivated.
鈥淚 believe I was fired because I opened a case against the president of the United States,鈥� he said.
In the interview Sunday, McCabe also said Rosenstein in the days after Comey鈥檚 firing had proposed wearing a wire to secretly record the president. McCabe said he took the remark seriously, though the Justice Department last September 鈥� responding last September to a New York Times report that first revealed the conversation 鈥� issued a statement from an unnamed official who was in the room and interpreted the remark as sarcastic.
McCabe said the remark was made during a conversation about why Trump had fired Comey.
鈥淎nd in the context of that conversation, the deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the White House. He said, 鈥溾�業 never get searched when I go into the White House.聽 I could easily wear a recording device. They wouldn鈥檛 know it was there,'鈥� McCabe said.
In excerpts released last week by CBS 黑料社, McCabe also described a conversation in which Rosenstein had broached the idea of invoking the Constitution鈥檚 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. The Justice Department said in a statement that Rosenstein, based on his dealings with Trump, does not see cause to seek the removal of the president. /gsg