FBI's No. 2 Steps Down; Are We Nearing A Constitutional Crisis?

Published January 30, 2018 at 10:00 AM EST

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 7, 2017 file photo, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe appears before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill in Washington. On Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017, President Donald Trump reacted to reports about the coming retirement of FBI Deputy Director McCabe, who has been buffeted by attacks from the president and his Republican allies over alleged anti-Trump bias in the agency, by retweeting falsehoods about McCabe's wife. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

With guest host Anthony Brooks.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe resigns abruptly. Republicans in Congress vote to release a Republican-authored memo critical of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign. Are we steps away from a constitutional crisis?

This show airs Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.

Guests:

Devlin Barrett, national security reporter for the Washington Post. (@DevlinBarrett)

Josh Gerstein, senior White House reporter for Politico. (@joshgerstein)

Claire Finkelstein, Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law.

Jonathan Turley, teaches Public Interest Law at George Washington University’s law school. (@jonathanturley)

From The Reading List:

Washington Post: FBI’s McCabe Leaving Deputy Director Job — “Andrew McCabe has been a frequent target of President Trump and congressional Republicans.”

Politico: McCabe Out As FBI’s No. 2. — “His exit comes amid heated partisan tensions around special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. House Republicans have pointed to text messages between FBI officials to allege bias at the agency and drafted a secret memo about the bureau’s surveillance of a former Trump campaign official. Democrats and DOJ officials have defended Mueller and the FBI, but McCabe still became a focal point as Trump and others in the GOP bashed him.”

President Trump’s war against the FBI is red hot. Last year, former FBI Director James Comey, fired. Now, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a target of presidential attacks – forced out early. We’ve heard the President tried to fire special counsel Bob Mueller, whose probe has reached Trump’s inner circle. And now a Republican memo accuses the FBI of dirty politics. This hour, On Point: Are we lurching toward a constitutional crisis? —Anthony Brooks