Washington: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, less than two days before his retirement, ending the career of an official who had risen to serve as second-in-command at the bureau, the media reported.

McCabe had more recently been regularly taunted by President Donald Trump and besieged by accusations that he had misled internal investigators at the Justice Department, reports CNN.

In a blistering statement after the announcement late Friday night, McCabe said his firing is part of a larger effort to discredit the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"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," McCabe said in the statement.

He was expected to retire on Sunday, on his 50th birthday, when he would have become eligible to receive early retirement benefits.

 

 

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Hyderabad, May 5 (PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad were eliminated from the play-offs race after their Indian Premier League fixture against Delhi Capitals was called off due to heavy rain following the first innings here on Monday.

Pat Cummins-led SRH pace attack ran through the DC batting line-up to limit the visitors to 133/7 before rain dashed the slim hopes of the home team. Both teams shared a point each for the abandoned game.

With 13 points from 11 games, DC remain in contention for a top-four spot.

After reaching the final last year, it was a season to forget for SRH who could not replicate their ballistic run of 2024 with the bat. Having collected only seven points from 11 matches, SRH will now be playing for pride.

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were already eliminated from the competition.

Before rain lashed the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, the hosts put up a clinical effort with the ball and were on course for only their fourth win of the season until rain arrived, creating large puddles of water on the outfield. The match officials decided to call off the game at 11.10 pm local time.

The shot selection of Delhi Capitals' batters contributed to their downfall after being put in to bat.

They were left reeling at 29 for five in 7.1 overs with captain Cummins causing the maximum damage.

Cummins had Karun Nair caught behind on the very first ball of the match with a good length ball around the off-stump. It was a rather loose shot from the DC batter first up.

Faf du Plessis departed in Cummins' following over, a failed attempt to put the relentless Australian away for a boundary. Not getting any loose ball from Cummins, the South Africa went for a pull on the charge only to be caught by the wicket-keeper.

Cummins' third victim was Abhishek Porel who was caught after mistiming a flick.

Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat then got into the act by dismissing Axar Patel and K L Rahul respectively. The in-form Rahul went for a drive on the up but ended up edging it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.

It was one way traffic until Tristian Stubbs (41 not out off 36) and impact player Ashutosh Sharma (41 off 26) combined to take DC to a respectable total. They shared a 66-run stand off 45 balls.

Sharma was able to break the shackles by depositing leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari for a couple of sixes over long-on in the 15th over.

Stubbs did not look as comfortable as Sharma in the middle but managed to provide much needed support to the latter. The South African could find only four boundaries with the last one coming off the final ball of the innings.