Former acting FBI director believes Trump could be a Russian asset

Stephen Proctor

While promoting his book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe stopped by Anderson Cooper 360, where he spoke at length about the investigation into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. McCabe first opened the investigation shortly after the president fired then-FBI Director James Comey, and on Tuesday night, he made it clear he still questions where Trump’s loyalties lie.

When Cooper asked if he believes Trump could be a Russian asset, McCabe replied, “I think it’s possible. I think that’s why we started our investigation.”

Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt, and has even gone after McCabe personally on numerous occasions, calling him a liar. But, according to McCabe, it was the president’s own actions that prompted the investigation in the first place.

“We thought that a potential threat to national security might exist,” McCabe said. “That being that the president of the United States may have attempted to obstruct justice in his efforts to thwart and impede our investigation of Russian influence, and if he had done so, why? Why would any American president try to stop the FBI from investigating what the Russians might have done to our election?”

McCabe believes he was fired in March of last year because he opened an investigation into Trump, but he said he stands by that decision, adding, “Presented with facts, we made hard decisions, decisions that we knew would be tough on the organization, would be tough on us personally. Look what I have gone through as a result of those decisions. But we did them anyway because we were committed to our responsibilities and serving this country.”

Anderson Cooper 360 airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on CNN.

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