Fired FBI official wins pension

Former deputy director’s 2018 dismissal lauded by Trump

FILE - In this June 7, 2017, file photo, former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCabe, who was fired by President Donald Trump after allegations that he misled the Justice Department's inspector general, has won his pension back under a settlement with the federal government. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - In this June 7, 2017, file photo, former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCabe, who was fired by President Donald Trump after allegations that he misled the Justice Department's inspector general, has won his pension back under a settlement with the federal government. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON -- Hours before he was scheduled to retire in 2018, Andrew McCabe, then the FBI's deputy director, was fired by the Justice Department, depriving him of his pension and prompting cheers from President Donald Trump, who had been hounding him over his role in the Russia investigation.

On Thursday, the department reversed McCabe's firing, settling a lawsuit he filed asserting that he was dismissed for political reasons. Under the settlement, McCabe, 53, will be able to officially retire, receive his pension and other benefits, and get about $200,000 in missed pension payments.

In addition, the department agreed to expunge any mention of his firing from FBI personnel records. The agreement even made clear that he would receive the cuff links given to senior executives and a plaque with his mounted FBI credentials and badge.

The Justice Department did not admit any wrongdoing, but the settlement amounted to a rejection by the Biden administration of how McCabe's case had been handled under Trump. A notice of the lawsuit's dismissal was also filed in federal court.

"Politics should never play a role in the fair administration of justice and Civil Service personnel decisions," McCabe said in a statement. "I hope that this result encourages the men and women of the FBI to continue to protect the American people by standing up for the truth and doing their jobs without fear of political retaliation."

McCabe thanked his lawyers at the firm of Arnold & Porter, who will receive more than $500,000 in legal fees paid by the government. The firm intends to donate the money to its foundation, which provides scholarships to minority law students, among other things.

"What happened to Andrew was a travesty, not just for him and his family, but the rule of law," said Murad Hussain, one of McCabe's lawyers. "We filed this suit to restore his retirement benefits, restore his reputation and take a stand for the rights of all civil servants, and that's exactly what this settlement does."

Jeff Sessions, the attorney general at the time, fired McCabe on March 16, 2018, after the department's inspector general said McCabe had lied repeatedly about a leak to a newspaper about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

The case was referred to prosecutors, who ultimately decided not to charge McCabe with making false statements to a law enforcement officer. Sessions acted a day before McCabe's retirement was set to take effect and after months of public criticism of McCabe by Trump.

With the lawsuit resolved, the Justice Department and FBI avoid the risk that moving toward a trial could produce information through the discovery process and depositions.

In September 2020, a federal judge rejected the department's efforts to dismiss the case, allowing the litigation to move forward.

McCabe's lawyers had planned to question the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and his former deputy, David Bowdich. The lawyers would have also grilled Sessions and his deputy at the time, Rod Rosenstein, as well as others, including the department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz.

McCabe and his lawyers had argued that he was fired because he refused to swear loyalty to the president at the time. He also had been part of FBI leadership that opened an investigation into whether any Trump campaign associates had conspired with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump repeatedly called the inquiry a witch hunt and fired the FBI director at the time, James Comey, after expressing his fury about the investigation.

The former president had urged the Justice Department to get rid of McCabe. After the news media reported in December 2017 that McCabe planned to retire, Trump said on Twitter that "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!"

McCabe sued over his dismissal, saying he was a victim of political retaliation. In the suit, he claimed that Sessions, Wray and others "served as Trump's personal enforcers rather than the nation's highest law enforcement officials, catering to Trump's unlawful whims instead of honoring their oaths to uphold the Constitution."

Firing McCabe "was a critical element of Trump's plan and scheme" to rid the FBI and Justice Department of those deemed not loyal to the president, his lawsuit states.

McCabe accused the department of retaliation and terminating him for political reasons, which violated agency policies. McCabe's lawyer also argued that as a career civil servant, McCabe should have been given 30 days' notice before he was fired.

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