FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA: “Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe Thursday [5-11-17] rejected assertions by the White House that FBI employees had lost faith in James Comey and that the bureau’s probe into Russian election meddling was one of its most minor concerns.
‘I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity,’ McCabe told members of the Senate intelligence committee.
He said Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, enjoyed ‘broad support within the FBI and still does to this day.’ He added, ‘The majority, the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to Director Comey.’
On Wednesday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said the President ‘and the rest of the FBI’ had lost confidence in Comey. She said the White House had heard from ‘countless’ members of the FBI to that effect.
McCabe also contradicted another statement by Sanders in Wednesday’s White House briefing when she said that the Russia investigation was ‘probably one of the smallest things’ on the FBI’s plate.
‘We consider it to be a highly significant investigation,’ McCabe said, but declined to give details of the manpower involved in the probe.
The acting FBI director also said there has been no effort to impede the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the election, but vowed to inform a Senate panel if the White House tried to intervene.”
-Stephen Collinson, “New acting FBI director contradicts White House on Comey,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 11, 2017 1:29pm