Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Tuesday that he will “absolutely” support special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report even if it finds no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
“If [Mueller’s] report comes out and he says there is no direct link, no direct collusion between the Russians and the president, will you be satisfied?” a host on ABC’s “The View” asked McCabe.
“Absolutely. Absolutely,” said McCabe, who was fired from the FBI on March 16, 2018 for lying to the bureau’s office of professional responsibility.
“I have total confidence in director Mueller and the team he’s put together. I think the work they have done to date is extraordinary. Just watching it as we all do from the information that becomes public. I will have complete faith in the conclusions that they draw. I think those conclusions should be shared with the American public in the absolute broadest way possible.”
WATCH:
McCabe’s remarks suggest that he had not seen strong evidence of collusion during his stint at the FBI. McCabe was at the FBI for nearly two years after the bureau opened a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller (L) arrives at the U.S. Capitol for closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
McCabe also confirmed in his interview that he has been interviewed by Mueller’s team.
McCabe also discussed his decision to open a counterintelligence investigation specifically against Trump. That investigation was opened days after Trump fired James Comey on May 9, 2017. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017. (RELATED: FBI Opened A Counterintelligence Investigation Into President Trump)
“That was the recommendation that came to me from the investigative team that was responsible for the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. It was something we considered very closely. I further discussed it with FBI attorneys and general counsel,” McCabe said of the decision-making process behind opening the investigation of Trump.
McCabe also said that he discussed the matter with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Together briefed Congressional leaders about the investigation, McCabe said.
McCabe said that he and other FBI officials thought it was possible at the time the investigation of Trump was opened that the Republican could be a Russian asset.
“We believed that could be possible,” McCabe told host Joy Behar.
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