FBI Director Christopher Wray threatened to resign while facing mounting pressure from President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire his deputy, Andrew McCabe, according to a report.
But White House counsel Don McGahn told Sessions the issue wasn’t worth losing Wray over, per Axios.
The news of Wray’s warning follows the controversial dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey in May.
Comey’s firing triggered special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump administration obstructed justice by dumping Comey when the agency was investigating whether there had been any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
McCabe was targeted by Trump and other key Republicans in late 2017 for potentially having a political bias during the FBIâs probe into Hillary Clintonâs use of a private email server.
The accusations were leveled at McCabe after it was revealed his wife, Jill McCabe, took almost $470,000 from a political action committee associated with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Hillary and Bill Clinton ally, in her bid for a Virginia state Senate seat as a Democrat.
However, FBI documents compiled as part of an internal review found McCabe had no conflict of interest throughout the investigation.
Reports circulated in December that indicated McCabe was considering retiring as soon as he was eligible for his pension in early 2018.
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told Axios Trump “has enormous respect for the thousands of rank and file FBI agents who make up the worldâs most professional and talented law enforcement agency.”
“The president appointed Chris Wray because he is a man of true character and integrity and the right choice to clean up the misconduct at the highest levels of the FBI and give the rank and file confidence in their leadership,â Shah said.
The FBI declined to comment to Axios for the story.
A representative for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Washington Examiner.
