Biggs says McCabe resignation could be related to Russia memo

PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman said Tuesday that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s resignation may be tied to a possibly scathing memo concerning the Russia investigation that may be released this week.

“I don’t believe in coincidences around this and it certainly seems directly related,” Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

McCabe abruptly stepped down from his role on Monday, one day after FBI Director Christopher Wray reviewed the memo that supposedly alleges improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation.

Biggs — who has seen the document — said he would not be shocked to see more resignations follow suit should the memo be made public.

“Those of us who saw it said, ‘There will be some changes made, there will have to be some changes in personnel made, there’s going to have to be some additional investigation that goes on,'” he said.

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Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to release the memo, authored by chairman Rep. Devin Nunes. The decision now rests with President Donald Trump.

Biggs said he wants to see the president release the memo sooner rather than later.

“What I’d really like to see [Tuesday] is the president come out in conjunction with the State of the Union address and just go ahead and give his authorization,” Biggs said.

Trump has five days to either release the memo or block the committee from releasing it. He was expected to meet with his team to discuss it, but Biggs seemed optimistic it would be shown to the public.

“He doesn’t have to wait five days,” Biggs said. “He can do it [Tuesday] and, if that were the case, the whole world could see it.”

Republicans said they are confident the release won’t harm national security. They also said they would not release the underlying intelligence that informed the memo.

“You’ll see for yourself that it’s not necessary,” said Rep. Mike Conaway of (R-Texas), who’s leading the House’s Russia investigation.

But Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the panel had “crossed a deeply regrettable line.”

“Today this committee voted to put the president’s personal interests, perhaps their own political interest, above the national interest,” he said, noting that the memo’s release could compromise intelligence sources and methods.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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