Overnight rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow cause slushy and slippery roads

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe drafted a memo on circumstances leading up to the 

 a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss a secret document that has been turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller. His team is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential election and whether the president sought to obstruct that inquiry through actions including the firing of Comey last May.

The memo concerns a conversation that McCabe had with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Rosenstein's preparations for Comey's firing. Rosenstein played an important role in that episode, having written a memo faulting Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation that the White House held up as justification for President Trump's decision to fire the FBI director.

Rosenstein has said he wrote a memo laying out his concerns with Comey after learning that the White House intended to fire him.
According to McCabe's memo, Rosenstein indicated to him that he was initially asked to reference the Russia investigation in his own memo on Comey. But the final version didn't include discussion of Russia and focused instead on the Clinton email case.

Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel one week after Comey was fired. He has said he would recuse himself if necessary if his actions became relevant to Mueller's investigation.

The AP reported in March that McCabe had drafted multiple memos, including about his interactions with Trump. Comey also drafted a series of memos about his own encounters with Trump that unnerved him.

The New York Times first reported on the content of this particular memo.

McCabe became FBI acting director following Comey's firing last May. He was 

 just days before his scheduled retirement, amid an inspector general finding that he had misled internal investigators about his role in an October 2016 disclosure to The Wall Street Journal.

Politics and Government News

The Associated Press

Author

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe drafted a memo on circumstances leading up to the firing of his onetime boss, James Comey, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe testifies on Capitol Hill. 

Source: Ex-FBI deputy McCabe wrote memo on Comey firing

Go Deeper.

Like this?