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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Bengaluru (PTI): Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and several other senior BJP leaders in the state were taken under preventive custody on Thursday when they took out a march to lay siege to the CM Siddaramaiah's Office residence.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka were among the BJP MLAs taken into custody.

The party on Wednesday started the day and night protest at the Freedom Park against the price rise and other issues and they started march towards CM's residence on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters later, Vijayendra said the agitation is against the price rise, four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts and diversion of funds meant for Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Scheduled Tribes Sub Plan.

"We are taking these three key issues to people," Vijayendra said.

The agitations took place in several parts of Karnataka.

According to the BJP office bearers, the party has also planned a 'Janakrosha Yatra' (Public Outrage March) from April 7, starting in Mysuru, which will be flagged off by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.

As per the schedule, the march on April 7 will cover the Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts. On April 8, it will reach Mandya and Hassan, and on April 9 it will proceed to Kodagu and Mangaluru.

The first phase will conclude in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru on April 10. The second phase, starting on April 13, will cover the Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada districts.

The movement will cover every district in the state. Each district will have a two-to-three-kilometre Padayatra'.