After Tripling Original Goal, McCabe Will End Legal Defense Fundraiser
(CNN) -- A fundraiser for fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's legal defense fund will stop taking donations at 7 p.m. ET Monday after it tripled the original $150,000 goal.
The GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $530,000 as of Monday morning, far surpassing an updated goal of $250,000. More than 12,000 people donated to the campaign, which was created on March 29. McCabe said in a statement the support has "left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful."
"I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance," McCabe said in a statement. "However, as reports of additional (Office of Inspector General) investigations, congressional oversight hearings and misleading information about the circumstances of my firing have continued to emerge, the need for substantial resources for a legal team has become clear."
According to the GoFundMe page, the donations will be transferred "to a more formal legal defense trust."
McCabe was fired last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said he was taking the action after the inspector general and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility concluded McCabe had made "an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions," which is a career-ending offense.
McCabe was fired a little more than 24 hours before his expected retirement, when he would have become eligible to receive early retirement benefits. The firing could put a significant portion of those benefits in jeopardy, CNN has reported. The FBI's former second-in-command denied he misled the inspector general and framed his firing as a larger administration effort to discredit the bureau.
"It is not lost on me that each contribution reflects not just someone's well wishes but also their acknowledgment that something in this situation is not fair or just," McCabe said in Monday's statement. "We wish to thank every donor from the bottom of our hearts for their support."
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