March 14, 2018

Donald Trump Is Finally Close to Firing One of His Imaginary Enemies

Remember this from the 2016 Republican Convention? Good times.Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

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As part of his bizarre obsession with the 2016 election, Donald Trump has insisted for a long time that deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe conspired against him during the campaign. Why? Pay close attention:

  • McCabe’s wife is a Democrat.
  • She ran for office in Virginia a few years ago.
  • Like all Democrats, she got help from then-governor Terry McAuliffe.
  • McAuliffe is famously one of Hillary Clinton’s good buddies.
  • Therefore McCabe was in league with Hillary to defeat Trump. This is why Hillary was never charged in the email case even though we all know she was totally guilty and should have spent the rest of her life in prison.

Trump has tweeted more than once that McCabe should be fired, and now he’s close to getting his wish:

Mr. McCabe is ensnared in an internal review that includes an examination of his decision in 2016 to allow F.B.I. officials to speak with reporters about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The Justice Department’s inspector general concluded that Mr. McCabe was not forthcoming during the review, according to the people briefed on the matter. That yet-to-be-released report triggered an F.B.I. disciplinary process that recommended his termination — leaving Mr. Sessions to either accept or reverse that decision.

For what it’s worth, note that McCabe was arguing in favor of investigating the Clinton Foundation, which would hurt Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump. Whatever. So what is it that McCabe supposedly did wrong?

The details of why the inspector general viewed Mr. McCabe as not forthcoming are not clear.

Anyway, McCabe is scheduled to retire on Sunday, but if he gets fired on Friday instead it will reduce his retirement benefits. Trump actually tweeted a few months ago that he thinks it would be outrageous if McCabe got his full benefits:

Our government is being run like a mafia family. A very, very petty mafia family.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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