Tag: fired

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After 22 Years, Former FBI Deputy Director Fired 2 Days Shy Of His Retirement

Andrew McCabe

This is some stone-cold shit.

After 22 years service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired tonight by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, less than two days shy of his retirement.

From CNN:

McCabe had more recently been regularly taunted by President Donald Trump and besieged by accusations that he had misled internal investigators at the Justice Department.

In a blistering statement Friday night, McCabe said his firing is part of a larger effort to discredit the FBI and the special counsel’s investigation.

“This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally,” McCabe said. “It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work.”

McCabe had been expected to retire this Sunday, on his 50th birthday, when he would have become eligible to receive early retirement benefits.

But Friday’s termination could place a portion of his anticipated pension, earned after more than two decades of service, in significant jeopardy.

Donald Trump, who clearly ordered the firing, weighed in via Twitter:

Here’s McCabe’s statement tonight:

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AG Jeff Sessions Considering Firing Andrew McCabe Just Days Before Retirement, Would Lose Pension After 22 Years At FBI

Andrew McCabe

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is considering firing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe just days before his retirement.

McCabe is set to officially retire on March 18 but, according to a source, could be fired just days before and lose his pension after a 22-year career.

McCabe stepped down in January, many say he was told to do so. His official retirement couldn’t begin until this Sunday as he needs to be 50 years-old to leave the FBI with his pension intact.

More from CNN:

CNN has learned the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility has recommended McCabe be fired and now the decision is up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The issue stems from findings in an internal Justice Department watchdog report that claims he misled investigators about his decision to authorize FBI officials to speak to the media about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

A representative for McCabe declined to comment.

That report, which has been complete for over a week, according to the source, has not been released publicly. The office is currently examining how investigations were handled at the department and the FBI in advance of the 2016 presidential election, including, notably, the Hillary Clinton email server probe.

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CNN: Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin Is Next To Be Fired From Trump Administration

Donald Trump may like being in Apprentice-mode these days.

Right on the heels of firing his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, CNN is reporting that President Trump is looking to dismiss embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and replace him with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Shulkin has butted heads in recent months with conservative White House officials over the expansion of government-subsidized private health care for veterans, outside the government-run V.A. health system.

Additionally, Shulkin drew negative attention for a trip to Britain and Denmark last year where it appears he spent much of the time sight-seeing with his wife.

Rick Perry reportedly had lunch at the White House yesterday but no confirmation if the subject of moving to the VA came up.

Watch the report from CNN below.

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Trump Aide Fired For “Serious Financial Crimes” Investigation, Immediately Hired By 2020 Trump Campaign

More news coming out of the dumpster fire that is the Trump Administration – Trump’s personal assistant, Johnny McEntee, was quietly fired on Monday from the White House.

After months of issues with his background security check, he was let go and escorted from the White House yesterday.

According to CNN, McEntee’s security clearance hit a snag “because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes.”

But remember, according to Trump this White House has “no Chaos, only great Energy!”

Now, where do you get a job when you’re being investigated for “serious financial crimes?”

He was immediately hired today by the Trump 2020 reelection campaign.

See CNN’s report below.

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Trump Fires Secretary Of State Tillerson Via Twitter

Donald Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this morning and, according to reports, Tillerson found out when he saw the president’s tweet announcing the news.

Tillerson and Trump have often found themselves on opposing sides of foreign policy over the past year.

Just yesterday, NBC News reported that Tillerson had called the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent in the U.K. “a really egregious act” that appears to have “clearly” come from Russia.

Trump said he wouldn’t condemn Russia until after reviewing the facts.

Donald Trump must have gotten a call from his boss Vladimir Putin in Moscow and been told to fire Tillerson.

Of course, you may recall that back in October of 2017 the story broke that Tillerson had called Trump “a moron.”

Moral of the story? You can call the president a moron and keep your job; blame Russia for poisoning an ex-spy and you’re out.

As had been rumored for months, CIA Director Mike Pompeo will become the new Secretary of State, and his Deputy Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, will take the reins at CIA.

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Director Bryan Singer Fired From Freddie Mercury Biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Bryan Singer (image via Instagram)

Just days ago, 20th Century Fox suspended production on the upcoming Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody noting director Bryan Singer’s “unexpected unavailability.”

Monday, however, Fox announced Singer is no longer with the project.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details:

“Bryan Singer is no longer the director of Bohemian Rhapsody,” the studio said Monday in a statement.

The decision reflected an escalating clash between Singer and actor Rami Malek and was caused by the helmer being missing from the set, necessitating the Dec. 1 production shutdown of the film in which Malek stars as Freddie Mercury, frontman of the rock group Queen. The pic has been shooting in London.

In announcing the shutdown last week, producers Fox, New Regency and Graham King initially said filming was being suspended because of Singer’s “unexpected unavailability.”

Denying he acted unprofessionally, Singer claimed the studio refused to allow him to tend to “a gravely ill parent” as well as to his own health. “I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen,” he said in a statement, “but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”

According to reports, this isn’t the first time Singer has disappeared during filming. He also went AWOL during the shoots for X-Men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns.

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Eric Bolling Out At Fox News

Far-right conservative blowhard Eric Bolling is out at Fox News.

HuffPost has the details:

Fox News has parted ways with host Eric Bolling, the network confirmed Friday, just over a month after an exclusive HuffPost report revealed Bolling sent inappropriate text messages to current and former female colleagues.

News of the departure comes after two HuffPost reports revealed a pattern of inappropriate behavior by Bolling, who co-hosts “Fox News Specialists.” Fox News will cancel the program, it said in a statement.

“Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably,” the network said. “We thank Eric for his ten years of service to our loyal viewers and wish him the best of luck.”

HuffPost’s report, which was based on 14 sources, revealed that at least three current and former Fox colleagues said they had received inappropriate text messages from Bolling, including photos of male genitalia.

You may recall that Bolling filed notice that he intended to sue the reporter, Yashar Ali, who initially broke the story. Bolling had threatened a $50 million lawsuit.

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Sean Spicer Resigns As White House Press Secretary

Sean Spicer

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has resigned from his position in the Trump administration over the hiring of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

Mr. Trump made the appointment over the objection of Mr. Priebus, who thought Mr. Scaramucci lacked the requisite organizational or political experience. But the president believed Mr. Scaramucci, a ferocious defender of Mr. Trump’s on cable television, was best equipped to play the same role in-house, and he offered him a role with far-reaching powers independent of Mr. Priebus’s.

Mr. Spicer flatly rejected the president’s offer of a position subordinate to Mr. Scaramucci, according to two administration officials familiar with the exchange.

The appointment of Mr. Scaramucci, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s earliest campaign supporters, was backed by the president’s daughter Ivanka, his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the officials said.

Also from The Daily Beast:

Spicer was not the only one opposed to Scaramucci’s hiring. His deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was as well. So, too, was chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon, who vocally opposed Trump’s decision, two senior Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast.

According to three senior officials with knowledge of the situation, they and other top aides worried that the Scaramucci hiring would perpetuate the notion of “amateur hour” in the West Wing. White House officials who opposed Scaramucci’s planned rise in Trump’s ranks have referred to the incoming new addition as a “joke” and as a Trump-world “hanger-on” who isn’t qualified for the job and is unprepared to handle the near-constant communications crisis dogging President Trump, senior White House aides noted.

June 23 was the last time Spicer handled an on-camera daily briefing.

CBS News’ Major Garrett reports that Spicer’s exit raises questions about the security of Priebus’ job.

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MSNBC Cancelling Lawrence O’Donnell Over Trump Criticism

Via Showbiz411:

I can confirm that MSNBC is ending the top rated “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell, the popular show that follows Rachel Maddow at 10pm. O’Donnell’s contract is up shortly, and the network has not made any overtures about keeping him on.

There is a fear that despite Maddow’s dogged liberalism, MSNBC is taking a turn to the right. O’Donnell would not fit into that model. But they’ve installed Fox News’s Greta van Susteren at 6pm, and more changes are coming. (This follows the disaster with Tamron Hall and the coming of Megyn Kelly from Fox News, too.)

My NBC sources say that O’Donnell’s tireless criticism of Donald Trump is the cause of the trouble.

O’Donnell calls Trump a liar on TV almost ever night. Says my observer: “Phil Griffin fought back Trump’s demands to Comcast chief Steve Burke that O’Donnell get fired for years. But now he’s president and now it’s Andy Lack’s decision and Andy has never run a single promo for O’Donnell and he wants access to Trump for Lester Holt interview and more.”

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BREAKING: Trump Asked FBI Director Comey To End Flynn Investigation

Whoa.

From The New York Times:

President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo that Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

The existence of Mr. Trump’s request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia.

Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo. The memo was part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation. An F.B.I. agent’s contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.

Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of the memo to a Times reporter.

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

The White House has denied the allegation.

I find it completely believable that Trump, operating like a CEO, not a president, might pull someone aside and ask a favor for a buddy. It’s more “corner office” than “Oval Office” thinking.

Sen. Angus King says things are inching closer and closer to impeachment.