March 16, 2018, in just 26 hours before the official retirement, Deputy General Director of the FBI’s Andrew McCabe was dismissed by then-attorney General Jeff Sessom. President Donald trump celebrated the dismissal of McCabe’s separate twitcam, calling it a «great day for democracy.»
Almost a year later, McCabe said the President in his published book «the Threat: how the FBI protects America in the age of terrorism and the trump», which accuses the current administration of ignoring the law and the attacks on democratic institutions. March 13, former Deputy Director of the FBI presented the book at the Commonwealth Club (San Francisco) and shared with the audience impressions of Donald trump, Robert Mueller, as well as work in the fields of counter-terrorism and combating the Russian mafia.
About trump and the FBI
According to McCabe, personally communicate with the President, he was hard.
«Trump always says, and it is practically impossible to insert even a word to him. However, he always wait for your approval. On my first meeting with him he bragged how proud I fired the FBI Director James Komi. According to trump, the FBI didn’t love Komi and was happy as a result of his dismissal. When I noticed that this is not true, trump called me part of the «resistance movement» to the FBI,» recalls McCabe.
About his own dismissal of former Deputy Director learned from the media, and then sent him e-mails. While McCabe says that this decision was illegal and made under constant pressure from the President. McCabe said that the training action about the illegality of his dismissal is already at the final stage.
Andrew McCabe also stressed that constant attacks Donald trump on the FBI and provoke their conspiracy theories about the conspiracy of the Deep state against the President have a negative impact not only on the reputation of the Bureau, but also on national security.
«The FBI was in a difficult situation, since it is by definition difficult to deal with conspiracy theories. It may not disclose information relating to ongoing investigations and is not involved in Twitter wars. The Bureau cannot confirm or deny information regarding the use of certain investigative techniques, because it can reveal secret techniques of investigation and sources of the FBI. And, of course, it may not divulge the important and secret information. At the same time employees psychologically very hard to continuously listen to streams of false accusations of and work in conditions of constant pressure from the White house,» said McCabe.
According to him, this situation also hampers the involvement of the FBI new employees, particularly technicians, which is especially needed in the era of rapid technology development.
«Social networks have completely changed the format of the work in the areas of counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Through them are often carried out recruitment sources and information. The FBI still has a lot to do in terms of development of Internet technologies, however, to attract young professionals to this area quite difficult. We can’t offer them bonuses and drains, as do private corporations. In addition, the FBI non-normalized, and often you can’t even share with your loved ones what they do at the moment. Attack of the President and the recent shutdown of the government, during which people more than a month have not been paid, and do not contribute to increase the attractiveness of this work,» admitted McCabe.
About himself and the Russian mafia
Himself Andrew McCabe has experienced all the «charms» of the Bureau itself. He decided to become a special agent in 27 years after he started work at the Department of justice, while still a law student. According to him, he was inspired not so much their duties, how much that had to do agents, and this has determined the choice of a career path.
«In relations with family is not always possible to seem «ordinary man». Because of the abundance of secret I couldn’t just come home and share with his wife what is happening at work. I can’t tell you how many vacations I had to cancel. Fortunately, the family felt about these things with understanding, recognizing the importance of my work,» shared McCabe.
During his career Andrew maccabe had to resist the mafia, to investigate the attacks, including the bombing at the Boston marathon, to serve on the Commission on organization of high-ranking detainees interrogation and investigation techniques interrogation after a legislative ban on the CIA used torture.
«It was especially difficult to work on holidays, like Christmas or July 4, when there is a large crowd of people at the Mall that gives rise to many security issues. However, I can assure you that the FBI treated its responsibilities under the prevention of terrorist attacks as their personal responsibility,» he says.
First assignment start-special agent new York office, where Andrew maccabe had to fight with organized crime. Comparing the Italian and Russian mafia, former FBI recognizes the dignity of the latter.
«The Russian mafia was at that time an entirely new phenomenon, and I have to admit that the Russian in their work more creative than the Italians. They support better communication within the Diaspora, enterprising, and in the case of failures faster and more efficiently looking for new ways,» admitted McCabe.
On Mueller and impeachment
According to the former Deputy Director of the FBI, he had then turned out to be well-known figures of Russian organized crime with Donald trump. While Andrew McCabe stressed that, even if it turns out trump’s involvement in any crime, it does not lead to immediate impeachment.
«Unlike criminal proceedings, impeachment is a political process. According to the Constitution, the President cannot be dismissed without a political vote, just because of the crime. However, regardless of this, I believe that the final report of spectracolor Muller must be submitted to the Congress in full and to obtain wide public publicity. If it contains information about any crimes, the impeachment process should receive wide support among the population. To achieve such support to start this process prematurely,» he warns.
Himself Andrew McCabe had the experience of regular communication with Robert Muller, the then Director of the FBI (2006), when it should have been twice a day to inform it about the details of the investigation one of the important things.
«Working with him was challenging in their own ways. Mueller remembered everything that you told him, I paid attention to all the details, with questions about all the links between suspects, personally asking for their phone numbers and cars, etc. For him it was not enough only to identify suspects and their actions: he was interested in the nature of relationships between people, their relationships etc. in short, he was a brilliant investigator,» recalls McCabe.
Despite all the difficulties and political scandals happening around the FBI, a former Deputy Director expressed hope that in the future the trust of the American people to the law enforcement agencies are going to rise again, and once again assured that the Bureau is not as politicized as it may seem from the media.
Ksenia Kirillova
