A former chairman of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday he does not believe former
FBI Deputy Director
Andrew McCabe told lawmakers in 2017 that the bureau opened a counterintelligence probe of President
Donald Trump, countering what McCabe insists.
Former Rep.
Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., was on Fox News on Tuesday evening and said he had no knowledge of that investigation, nor does he think the "Gang of Eight" — the leaders of the House and Senate, along with the leaders of each chamber's intelligence committee — was informed.
"I listened to Devin and Paul quiz the FBI for hours on multiple occasions about the one counterintelligence investigation we all know about," said Gowdy, referencing former House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes and former House Speaker Paul Ryan. "I find it stunning that they would know about a second one and not say a single, solitary word. And I will continue to not believe they knew about it unless one or the other contradicts it."
The first probe that has been common knowledge since 2017 was the investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
McCabe said Tuesday he informed the "Gang of Eight" the FBI had opened a probe of Trump himself and whether he was a national security threat after he fired FBI Director James Comey. None of the lawmakers objected to the investigation, McCabe said.
"I know McCabe liked Jim Comey. But lots of people thought that Jim Comey had lost the ability to lead that department," Gowdy said. "And the fact that President Trump got rid of him in 2017 is not sufficient basis to launch a criminal obstruction of justice probe."
The "Gang of Eight" lawmakers have not commented on McCabe's claim. He would have told them about the Trump investigation in a classified setting.