March 30, 2018

Andrew McCabe’s GoFundMe Surpasses $500,000

Shattering the original $150,000 goal.

Cheriss May/ZUMA

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Update, 4/2: After reaching more than $500,000, the GoFundMe will soon stop accepting further donations. “The outpouring of support on GoFundMe has been simply overwhelming and has led to contributions that have left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful,” McCabe said in statement. “The GoFundMe campaign began organically, with generous people spontaneously giving to accounts that others had set up. I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance.”

Previously:

An online fundraiser that was launched Thursday to help cover former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s legal fees has surpassed $400,000, shattering the legal defense fund’s original goal of raising $150,000. 

And it’s only Friday.

The 21-year FBI veteran was fired by the bureau just two days before he was set to retire, a punitive move that could deprive McCabe of his full retirement benefits. The stunning dismissal came after months of public and private attacks by President Donald Trump, who repeatedly accused McCabe of being politically biased against him. After McCabe’s firing, Trump gloated about his dismissal on Twitter.

“Andrew McCabe’s FBI career was long, distinguished, and unblemished,” reads the GoFundMe page, which was organized by his friends. “He embraced the most daunting, difficult, and important challenges that the FBI and the country could assign to him over the past 21 years.”

“Unfortunately, the need for a legal defense fund is a growing reality,” it continues. “Media reports indicate that at a minimum, there are a number of congressional inquiries that he will be required to respond to, as well as the broader Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation that is ongoing, and any potential lawsuits he might consider.”

Many viewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ firing of McCabe as a concession to Trump, though the official justification cited for McCabe’s ouster was his supposed “lack of candor” during congressional testimony. A week after the extraordinary dismissal, it was reported that almost a year before his firing, McCabe had authorized a criminal investigation into whether Sessions had been truthful when testifying about his contacts with Russian officials.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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