Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) said former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe "undercut his credibility all by himself" while discussing his firing on "Fox News Sunday."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe on Friday, over an unreleased internal report alleging McCabe directed FBI officials to speak to the press about a Clinton Foundation investigation and then misled investigators, according to CNN. President Donald Trump tweeted McCabe's dismissal was a "great day for democracy."
The firing drew outrage from Trump administration critics, who felt it was part of an effort to impeach McCabe as a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. McCabe released a statement that his firing was an attempt to affect his credibility.
"Oh, Andy McCabe has undercut his credibility all by himself," Gowdy said after host Chris Wallace read part of McCabe's statement. "He didn't need any help doing that, and I find it richly ironic that he is lamenting that those are attacking the FBI when he himself does the exact same thing. It was the FBI who said he made an unauthorized disclosure and then lied about it."
"That wasn't President Trump," he added. "It wasn't me. It wasn't the crazy House Republicans. It was his own fellow FBI agents that said he leaked and then lied about it, so if he's got credibility issues, he need look no further than himself."
Gowdy added he would reserve full judgment on the matter and the proportionality of the punishment until the Justice Department's Inspector General's report, but he said agency members didn't get to choose when to tell the truth.
"Make no mistake. The FBI is who recommended that he be fired. It wasn’t crazy House Republicans and it wasn’t the Trump administration," Gowdy said. "It was his own fellow bureau agents."