Growing wildfires across Western Canada are forcing thousands from their homes
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who had been fired hours before his retirement as then-U.S. President Donald Trump's political furor toward him grew, has settled a lawsuit with the Justice Department, allowing him to officially retire and to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and his pension.
McCabe, now a CNN law enforcement analyst, was one of the central leaders of the early Russia investigation that pursued Trump's advisers and questions of whether the then-President had obstructed justice. In March 2018, two days shy of McCabe's scheduled retirement date, when he would have become eligible to receive early retirement benefits, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him from the FBI.
In 2019, McCabe sued the department, alleging his dismissal had been politically motivated. The settlement this week, he told CNN, signals that "this should never have happened."
The New York Times was first to report on the settlement.
The agreement with the Justice Department, made public Thursday afternoon, includes major concessions for McCabe, such as Sessions' recommendation to fire him for lack of candor being wiped away, according to settlement documents released by Arnold & Porter, the law firm representing McCabe.
His firing, under the agreement, has essentially been rescinded, with the FBI's records being amended to show that he never had a blip of unemployment and that he retired in March 2018, the documents say. FBI personnel files also will remove record of McCabe having been fired.
That allows him to receive compensation since 2018, which he told CNN he believes is more than US$200,000. His lawyers will also be compensated for their work on his wrongful termination lawsuit, which amounts to nearly $540,000, according to the settlement records.
"I didn't file this ... suit to get rich off the Department of Justice," he said. "We've been through a really terrible experience over the last couple of years."
He will also have his FBI badge mounted -- a perk for senior bureau executives when they retire -- and get his senior executive service cufflinks, the settlement says.
McCabe told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview Thursday night that he believes the settlement is a message to government employees: "This is the current Department of Justice standing up for fairness and standing up for the rule of law."
McCabe and the Justice Department, as part of the settlement, agreed to say that "Executive Branch officials outside the Department of Justice and its components should not comment publicly on ongoing career civil service employee disciplinary matters ... so as not to create any appearance of improper political influence."
The department still denies that Trump administration officials violated any laws or the Constitution when Sessions fired McCabe.
During the Trump administration, the Justice Department had investigated McCabe for criminal wrongdoing -- coming close to an indictment -- then declined to prosecute him. He was never charged.
The DC US attorney in 2019 had been scrutinizing alleged false statements McCabe had made to investigators regarding his involvement in a newspaper report about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation published days before the 2016 presidential election.
Throughout, McCabe maintained that Trump's administration had been hounding him for political reasons and that he had never intentionally misled anyone.
In 2020, when it was announced that the Justice Department would not pursue charges against him, McCabe told CNN he didn't think he would ever be free from Trump and the rage the then-President directed toward him and his wife.
On Thursday, McCabe told Cooper: "I don't kid myself to think that (Trump) is going to put aside his horrific judgment, his constant lying and his tormenting of me and my family. I'm sure this will just add another log to the fire."
"He'll probably be saying all kinds of things about it tomorrow. But you know what, I'm just to the point where I don't care. I don't care what that guy has to say," he continued.
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
Eating enough healthy fats is great for brain and heart health, but new research has possibly provided even more evidence for adding them, particularly omega-3s, to your diet.
A Malahide Township resident is out more than $2 million following a romance scam.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
A massive manhunt was underway in France on Wednesday for an armed gang that killed two prison officers and seriously injured three others to spring an inmate they were escorting.
More than 2,000 people forced to pack up and leave Fort Nelson, B.C., are trying to adjust to life as evacuees, and the constant concern about what is happening back home.
After a final frame that saw the visiting Vancouver Canucks claw their way back and tie the game late, a point shot by Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard with 38 seconds left (until what seemed like certain overtime) iced the 3-2 victory for Edmonton to knot the series.
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.