FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has stepped down after criticism by US President Donald Trump, who is being investigated for possible collusion with Russia in the wake of his 2016 victory.
Sources told Politico on Monday that the 49-year-old official was going on “terminal leave,” which means he will be on payroll by the time he retires.
The decision was made amid the ongoing Russia probe by special counsel Robert Mueller, which has implicated some key figures in Trump’s inner circle.
The president, who fired former FBI Director James Comey last year, has complained that McCabe is biased.
Like Comey, McCabe had been urged by Trump to drop the investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for…