FBI Director Christopher Wray threatened to resign amid pressure from President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire his deputy, Andrew McCabe, Axios reported Monday night.
Citing unnamed sources, Axios reported Sessions told White House counsel Donald McGahn that Wray was upset about the pressure on him to fire McCabe — and McGahn told Sessions the issue was not worth losing Wray.
Wray was appointed to head the FBI after Trump fired then-Director James Comey in May 2017. Axios has previously reported Sessions has urged Wray to make a "fresh start" with his team.
McCabe was targeted by Trump and other Republicans for potentially having a political bias during the FBI's probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. His wife, Jill McCabe, took almost $470,000 from a political action committee associated with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Hillary and Bill Clinton ally, in her bid for a Virginia state Senate seat.
But FBI documents compiled as part of an internal review found McCabe had no conflicts throughout the probe.
Reports circulated last month McCabe was considering retiring as soon as he was eligible for his pension in early 2018.
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told Axios the president "has enormous respect for the thousands of rank and file FBI agents who make up the world's most professional and talented law enforcement agency."
"The president appointed Chris Wray because he is a man of true character and integrity and the right choice to clean up the misconduct at the highest levels of the FBI and give the rank and file confidence in their leadership," Shah said.
The FBI declined to comment to Axios.
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