STATEMENT BY ANDREW McCABE

I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized
Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing
on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging,
demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director
during a particularly tough time.

For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation
and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and
degrading allegation against us. The President’s tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my
firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have
said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated
about us.

No more.

The investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the
context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI’s
involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media
over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI
was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement
purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully
authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were
continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.

The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs
officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do
that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the
interaction with the reporter. It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees
several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his
request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During
these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded
me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.

But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen
when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and
protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took,
and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was
accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate
former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG’s focus on me and this report
became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me
from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The
accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed
through this lens. Thursday’s comments from the White House are just the latest example of this.

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. 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.

I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I always encouraged those
around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking
candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But
it will not erase the important work I was privileged to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be
revealed for the country to see.

I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will
not be deterred.