By Pratheeksha Gopinath
In an unexpected turn of events, Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of FBI bid an early adieu to his team, following accusations of harbouring political inclinations. Compelled to abdicate from his position that he held for two years, Andrew McCabe’s early departure triggered speculations of a political power play. Sending the rumour mills agog, the unprecedented early exit pointed towards a mala fide political intervention by Trump. Strongly criticized as an egregious act of deliberate undermining of the authority of the Federal Law Enforcement Agency, the bowing out of McCabe was viewed as the appalling work of an anarchist.
A step long overdue?
A victim of Trump’s wrath, McCabe was earlier publicly admonished in a tweet for undertaking an investigation into his campaign. Mr Christopher Wray, the successor of James B Comey (the former FBI Director who was ousted in a similar manner last spring), dispelled McCabe as a repercussion of the vexed surveillance memo on Capitol Hill. Denounced for the unyielding `2016 Hilary Clinton email investigation’, the second-ranked official of FBI was accused of political partisanship. His exit was hailed as `long over-due’ by the Virginia Republican and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte. Bob Goodlatte in one of his interviews pointed towards the erroneous undertakings of the FBI under the leadership of Comey and McCabe and hailed the departure as a step towards the purging of the system.
The Russia fever
The contentious Clinton email investigation seems to have sealed the fate for Comey. However, Donald Trump Jr. is of the opinion that the release of the FISA memo (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) and the surfacing of warrants to monitor the aides and associates of Trump, must have spurred the unduly egress. McCabe, unlike Comey, was not politically appointed and hence couldn’t be dismissed without a cause. Ergo, it was presumed that Trump had to pull some strings, enabling Mr Fray to handpick his own team. Being held accountable for the strained relationship between Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, McCabe seems to have ruffled a lot of feathers along the way, culminating in his resignation.
As surmised, the investigation into Donald Trump’s clandestine ties with Russia seems to have pushed the White House to the edge. Though the White House officials have dismissed these rumours, the stepping down of McCabe indicates the ongoing conflict between Trump and the authorities of the investigation. The Russia fever seems to have gripped the nation and the possibility of an exchange of confidential information with the Russians has sent the Americans into a frenzy. Mueller, a former FBI director is spearheading the investigation and intends to arraign the president for obstruction of justice. The acolytes of Trump have even hurled accusations at the FBI of a conspiracy against their president. A rift between the FBI and Trump is evident and is an internal threat to the United States of America.
Disappointment for the Trump supporters
The rising of Trump to power was heralded as the `harbinger of doom’ by the Democrats and a congressional inquiry was instituted to unravel the possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 Presidential Election campaign. The hue and cry over the Republican vote to release the FISA Memo and the dubious exit of McCabe has set tongues wagging about a potential Trump-Russia tie. Now that McCabe has stepped down, David Bodwich who served as associate deputy Director in FBI will replace McCabe as the acting deputy director.
David Bowdich who took the post of Associate Deputy Director in April 2016, is widely acclaimed for the international and domestic terrorism investigations in the region of Los Angeles and for his work during the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. A man of high repute, Bowdich would very soon be filling in the shoes of McCabe, very much to the disappointment of Trump’s supporters, due to his allegiance to both his former heads. Hopefully, he will be able to withstand the scathing attack by the supporters of Trump.
Featured Image Source: jossuppy on Visual hunt / CC BY
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