Reacting to the bombshell announcement that Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe was pressured to step down from his position ahead of his planned departure, a reporter for the New York Times claimed the White House shouldn't believe Trump's problems with the FBI are going to leave with him.
With CNN reporting that upper level FBI officials were both stunned and furious at the sudden departure, announced at an executive meeting Monday morning, the Times' Adam Goldman was asked by CNN host Wolf Blitzer if special counsel Robert Mueller was next to go.
"If the president were to fire Mueller, he would have to go to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who would actually do the firing unless he resigned in protest," Blitzer asked.
'That's correct," Goldman replied. "I mean, he can't fire Mueller and I think Trump realizes the problem is no longer Sessions -- his problem is Rod. I have to tell you, it seems unlikely. We're in the home stretch of this Russia investigation. You know, it would be like cutting off his own leg if he did that, and it would not serve him well."
"Can I just make a point about this McCabe retirement?" he continued. "Look, McCabe was going to retire March 18th -- he was eligible to retire March 18th. He's leaving a few weeks early and even a week ago, McCabe didn't know if he would be able to go on permanent leave until he is eligible to retire."
"So this is what they expected, and getting rid of his chief of staff and FBI Chief Counsel James Baker doesn't remove the problem for Trump," Goldman explained. "That 7th floor of the FBI are all Comey people. And many of the executive associate directors who run the bureau on the 7th floor were put there by Comey."
"So I'm not so sure this getting rid of McCabe and [former Comey Chief of Staff] Jim Rybicki and the former director necessarily solves the problem. These are all career FBI agents, all of whom have worked their way up just like Andrew McCabe," he concluded.
You can watch the video below via CNN:
