It was revealed on Thursday that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe reportedly told “60 Minutes” interviewer Scott Pelley that there were talks about removing President Donald Trump from office via the 25th Amendment among him and other Justice Department officials. The talks came soon after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey, who was widely ridiculed by partisans on both the Left and Right.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) appeared on Fox News following the bombshell report and laid into McCabe for engaging in actions that the congressman likened to a “coup” and to attempted “treason.”
“What I think we have to ask ourselves, is: How in the world was this man the Acting Director of the FBI when he exercised this kind of judgment?” said the GOP rep.
“An individual who seriously said, we should implement the 25th Amendment, which is essentially a coup. I mean, it’s essentially treason to say, we’re gonna remove this president — based on what? Based on nothing,” he continued.
“And that is the person who is Acting Director of the FBI on Comey’s recommendation,” Stewart added. “It brings into question every other subsequent investigation.”
Newsmax host John Cardillo similarity voiced outrage over the revelation, saying McCabe’s reported confession underscores the need for a “second Special Counsel.”
“This McCabe interview makes it clear that we need a second Special Counsel. We are beyond frustrated with DOJ and #Mueller’s prosecutorial double standard,” wrote Cardillo.
“The most illuminating and surprising thing in the interview to me were these eight days in May when all of these things were happening behind the scenes that the American people really didn’t know about,” announced Pelley on “CBS This Morning.”
“There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment. These were the eight days from Comey’s firing to the point that Robert Mueller was appointed Special Counsel. And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what do with the President,” he revealed.
As noted by The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti on Thursday, McCabe said there was essentially panic over Trump’s decision to fire Comey, which sparked the talks of the 25th Amendment and trigged an order to widen the investigation into so-called Russian collusion to include possible obstruction of justice by the sitting president:
The New York Times reports that McCabe claims “top Justice Department officials were so alarmed by President Trump’s decision in May 2017 to fire James B. Comey, the bureau’s director,” that they reached out to individual Cabinet members to judge their receptiveness to triggering the removal clause of the 25th Amendment, which allows the Cabinet to “vote out” a President who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to fulfill the duties of his job.
McCabe also claims that Comey’s firing “prompted Mr. McCabe to order the bureau’s team investigating Russia’s election interference to expand their scope to also investigate whether Mr. Trump had obstructed justice.”
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