January 29, 2018

New York Times: “Mrs. Trump and the president have had a tumultuous relationship at times over the years, but few episodes have roiled the peace as much as the news surrounding Ms. Daniels. The reports of a payoff blindsided the first lady, who was furious with her husband, according to two people close to the couple. She has kept a low profile since.”

“On Tuesday, Mrs. Trump is expected to resurface. The White House said that she would attend Mr. Trump’s State of the Union address, typically the most high-profile appearance of the year for first ladies.”

“Andrew McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the FBI’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from head of the bureau to leave,” the New York Times reports.

FBI director Christopher Wray “raised concerns about a forthcoming inspector general report examining the actions of Mr. McCabe and other senior F.B.I. officials during the 2016 presidential campaign… In that discussion… Mr. Wray suggested moving Mr. McCabe into another job, which would have been a demotion.”

[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]Historical side note: The deputy FBI director during Watergate, Mark Felt, turned out to be “Deep Throat.”[/alert]

“The day after President Trump fired James Comey, he became so furious watching television footage of the ousted FBI director boarding a government-funded plane from Los Angeles back to Washington, D.C. that he called the bureau’s acting director, Andrew McCabe, to vent,” NBC News reports.

“Trump demanded to know why Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he had been fired… McCabe told the president he hadn’t been asked to authorize Comey’s flight, but if anyone had asked, he would have approved it.”

“The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser — an apparent reference to a failed campaign for state office in Virginia that McCabe’s wife made in 2015.”

President Trump’s “frustrations with the Russia investigation boiled over on Air Force One last week when he learned that a top Justice Department official had warned against releasing a memo that could undercut the probe,” Bloomberg reports.

“Trump erupted in anger while traveling to Davos after learning that Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd warned that it would be ‘extraordinarily reckless’ to release a classified memo written by House Republican staffers. The memo outlines alleged misdeeds at the FBI and Justice Department related to the Russia investigation.”

“For Trump, the letter was yet another example of the Justice Department undermining him.”

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has told FBI staff he is stepping down effective Monday, CNN reports.

“President Donald Trump, who had publicly criticized McCabe in recent months, learned about the departure Monday morning.