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- Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe called out Trump for his comments about Ashli Babbitt.
- Trump has spoken out in support of the Jan. 6 rioter who was killed by Capitol Police.
- “When he says ‘we know who you are,’ that’s a threat,” McCabe said of Trump’s call for the officer who shot Babbitt to be named.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on Thursday blasted former President Donald Trump for “threatening law enforcement” in calling for “justice” against the Capitol Police officer who killed insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt on January 6.
During an appearance on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” McCabe told anchor Jim Acosta that Trump’s comments regarding the Capitol Police were “incredibly dangerous.”
“We know this for a fact. It is not something we are theorizing about,” he said. “We have seen before the impact that the president’s words have on his most die-hard and emotional supporters.”
He added: “We have seen an attempted bombing plot by a domestic extremist who was arrested some years ago who said he was following the directions of President Trump. We all saw the insurrectionists on January 6th acting what many of them had said, they thought they were following his direction.”
In a Wednesday statement, Trump lauded Babbitt, who was killed by a law-enforcement officer as she attempted to climb through a broken window to access the Speaker’s Lobby during the Capitol riot.
“I spoke to the wonderful mother and husband of Ashli Babbitt, who was murdered at the hands of someone who should have never pulled the trigger of his gun,” Trump said. “We know who he is. If this happened to the ‘other side,’ there would be riots all over America, and yet there are far more people represented by Ashli, who truly loved America, than there are on the other side.”
He added: “The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!”
During the interview, McCabe proceeded to state that the former president’s comments were akin to language coming from an organized crime figure and not from a former commander-in-chief.
“Let’s face it,” said McCabe. “When he says ‘we know who you are,’ that’s a threat. That’s the same sort of language that a mob boss or a drug kingpin would use to threaten a subordinate.”
He emphasized: “You have the former president of the United States threatening members of law enforcement. It’s just outrageous.”
Last month, during a call-in to Fox News, Trump described Babbitt as “an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman.”
The former president alleged that the officer who shot Babbitt was “the head of security for a certain high official, a Democrat,” which is untrue, according to a senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter.
Similar to Trump, GOP Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona has repeatedly pressed government officials about the death of Babbitt, and during a congressional hearing in June, he criticized the circumstances behind her death.
After the June hearing, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who in May was removed from the House Republican leadership team over her vocal criticism of Trump’s false election claims, rebuked Gosar for saying that Babbitt was “executed” by the Capitol Police.
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