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CNN announced on Aug. 23 that fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has joined the network as a contributor, a decision that quickly drew backlash from critics.
McCabe was fired by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March last year after an internal FBI review found that he had “made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions,” according to a statement. The FBI’s review began after a referral from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz who discovered that McCabe was not forthcoming about his involvement in authorizing a leak to Wall Street Journal regarding the investigation of the Clinton Foundation.
CNN’s decision to sign McCabe as a contributor was announced by the network’s media reporter Oliver Darcy on Aug. 23 and has garnered extensive criticism from many conservative figures on social media. Many critics said the hiring decision would further damage the network’s credibility.
“Some news: CNN announces Andrew McCabe has been signed as a contributor,” Darcy wrote.
Donald Trump Jr. weighed in on Twitter saying: “REMINDER: Andrew McCabe was fired by the FBI for leaking and getting caught lying about it. ANOTHER REMINDER: @CNN ceased being a ‘news organization’ a long time ago. They’re now a fully integrated anti-Trump propaganda network and they don’t even try hiding it anymore.”
Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor at The Federalist, wrote: “Andrew McCabe, one of the central figures of the ‘Russia collusion’ hoax, who was fired from the FBI for lying about his leaks to the media, has been hired by CNN, one of the media outlets that did the most to perpetuate the damaging hoax.”
Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra shared similar views saying: “Fascinating that disgraced Andrew McCabe, who was fired from the FBI and is an accused liar, gets a contract at CNNwhile the network has benched conservative contributor Steve Cortes. Narrative much, CNN?”
Trump War Room, a social media page managed by Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, also reacted to the decision, saying: “The nonpartisan Justice Department Inspector General recommended Trump hater Andrew McCabe be fired from the FBI for lying under oath multiple times about leaking to the media. CNN just hired McCabe, right after benching @CortesSteve for supporting Trump. Totally biased!”
Tim Young, host of the podcast “No Things Considered,” weighed in saying: “CNN kills the remainder of its credibility (what little it had left) by hiring Andrew McCabe, former acting director of the FBI WHO WAS FIRED FOR LEAKING STORIES TO THE MEDIA TO BENEFIT HIMSELF AND LYING UNDER OATH.”
This news comes after former White House Press Secretaries Sarah Sanders and Sean Spicer have taken on roles in the media, announcements that also attracted criticism from liberal figures. Fox News announced that Sanders will be joining the network as a contributor, while Spicer has been announced as a new member of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
“The news that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is joining Fox News is about as surprising as water flowing down hill,” former CBS news anchor Dan Rather tweeted.
“Big congratulations to you, Sarah! I’m sure your recent experience twisting the truth into pretzels and outright lying prepared you well for your new career at @FoxNews,” author Greg Olear wrote.
McCabe came under the spotlight on numerous occasions for his role in the probe into Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized and illegal use of a private email server and the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of the Trump presidential campaign. The origin of the probe is currently under investigation by Attorney General William Barr.
Conservative media has exclusively reported that McCabe told House lawmakers during a closed-door interview in late 2017 that the drafting of the FBI’s exoneration statement of Clinton, months prior to concluding the investigation, was unprecedented.
Earlier this month, the former FBI official sued the FBI and the Justice Department over his dismissal, claiming that he was fired because he refused to show his loyalty to President Donald Trump.
