Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe claimed in a memo he wrote last year that President Donald Trump tied the firing of FBI Director James Comey to the Russia investigation in a conversation he had with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, The New York Times disclosed Wednesday.
The report cited "several people familiar with the discussion" who disclosed it to the Times "on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matters."
According to the Times, McCabe described a conversation he heard about from Rosenstein in the memo — believing the deputy attorney general gave Trump a cover for firing Comey last May.
The story, according to McCabe's memo, involved Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Times disclosed.
Trump asked Rosenstein to mention Russia in his memo recommending Comey's dismissal, McCabe said in the memo.
The deputy attorney general did not in his final document.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March over leaking classified information to the news media and not fully disclosing it to Justice Department investigators.
He has since turned over his memo to Russia special counsel Robert Mueller, the Times reported.
A McCabe spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a representative for the Justice Department.
Rosenstein has consulted Justice Department ethics advisers about whether to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and has not done so, the Times reported.
President Trump has repeatedly slammed the Russia probe as a "witch hunt" and has demanded the Justice Department investigate itself over its role in the inquiry.
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