WASHINGTON _ Donald Trump is at war with Andrew McCabe, accusing the former acting FBI director of "Treason!" and saying he told a "lie" by claiming the president once called his wife a "loser."
Even during and after a long weekend at his South Florida resort following a chaotic mid-December to mid-February stretch, Trump was unable to ignore claims McCabe, who ordered a counterintelligence investigation into Trump and his possible coordination with Russians, is making as he peddles a new tell-all book.
Trump spent hours over the holiday weekend and on Tuesday morning blasting the career FBI man, whom he fired just hours before McCabe was eligible for his pension. At the time, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said McCabe was terminated for "lacking candor under oath" with the inspector general. McCabe claims he was fired for opening an investigation into the president.
The president, in one Monday tweet, lumped McCabe with outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over the former's allegations, suggesting they were part of a "treasonous" coup attempt.
McCabe insists Rosenstein numerous times in 2017 discussed gauging support among Cabinet members on removing Trump via the 25th Amendment process that would install Vice President Mike Pence as the 46th president, including seemingly volunteering to wear a wire during private meetings in the Oval Office.
Rosenstein denies those claims, but the president lashed out at both men _ lifelong Republicans _ in a Monday tweet for being in bed with Democrats by plotting what he called an "illegal and treasonous 'insurance policy' in full action!"
Trump was so fixated on the revelations in McCabe's book that he was still tweeting about the matter at 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday _ 25 minutes before he was scheduled to meet privately with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Their meeting is just days before Trump's second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un and a March 1 deadline when tariffs on Chinese goods balloon to 25 percent, amid warnings of an economy slowing trade war.
As cable news continued showing tape of McCabe's morning show interviews, the president fixated on the former FBI man's accusation that Trump, during a private 2017 conversation, called his wife "a loser" after she lost a bid for a Virginia state Senate seat.
The president wanted his 58.4 million followers to know his side, contending he only criticized Jill McCabe for accepting campaign donations from Bill and Hillary Clinton.
"I never called his wife a loser to him (another McCabe made up lie)!" Trump tweeted minutes before he was due in the Oval Office.
