Andrew McCabe fires back at Trump after being fired - here's what he said

Andrew McCabe released a lengthy statement defending himself after he was fired from his position as Deputy FBI Director Friday evening by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Here's what he said

"I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years," the statement began. "I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spend the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism."

"I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time," he said.

"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," he continued. "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," McCabe said. "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," he wrote.

McCabe goes on to explain that the accusations against him of instructing agents to speak to the press was nothing out of the ordinary, and he said that it was within his power, and that he had done so under Trump's FBI Director, Christopher Wray.

"War on the FBI"

"But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture," McCabe continued. "The big pictures 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."

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally," he added, "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."

"Incredibly disappointing and unfair"

"To have my career end this way," he continued further on in the statement, "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 an unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred," he concluded.

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