FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s criticism, is leaving his position ahead of a previously planned retirement this spring, people familiar with the decision said Monday.

McCabe had been widely expected to retire upon his eligibility date, but his departure from the FBI’s No. 2 slot is effective Monday, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal personnel move. He is expected to retire with his pension benefits.

McCabe, who briefly served as acting director of the FBI after President Donald Trump fired former director James Comey in May 2017, was expected to retire in March when he was eligible for a full pension.

CBS News reported McCabe was forced to step down.

Fox News reports McCabe is taking “terminal leave” – effectively taking vacation until he reaches his planned retirement in a matter of weeks. As such, he will not be reporting to work at the FBI anymore.

Republicans have questioned McCabe’s ties to the Democratic Party, considering his wife ran as a Democrat for a Virginia Senate seat in 2015 and got financial help from a group tied to Clinton family ally Terry McAuliffe.

The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval before his wife received the donations, and that at the time of the contributions, he was not in a supervisory role of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use.

But that has not stopped Trump from repeatedly insinuating that McCabe, and other FBI officials, are partisan law enforcement officials harboring a bias against him:

How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017

The Washington Post last week reported that Trump, during an Oval Office meeting last spring, pressed McCabe, who was then acting FBI director, about whom he voted for in the 2016 election. McCabe, according to the outlet, told the president he didn’t vote.

McCabe’s name has surfaced in connection with several other controversies.

Many believe he is named in a confidential GOP memo alleging government surveillance abuse, along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and ex-FBI boss James Comey.

Incidentally, the McCabe removal comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray viewed the memo Sunday on Capitol Hill.

Several Republicans also want to know what McCabe knew about anti-Trump text messages between two FBI officials, including one that seemed to reference an “insurance policy” against Trump winning the 2016 election.

Trump has repeatedly criticized McCabe:

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017

McCabe has held a number of FBI leadership roles over his 22 year careetmr, and was been heavily involved in investigations into major crimes including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

The departure comes as FBI Director Christopher Wray makes changes to his senior leadership team, replacing two other top aides last week. Such changes are not unusual when a new director takes charge, but they are notable amid Trump’s public pressure on Wray to get rid of officials who were confidants of James Comey, whom he fired as FBI director last May.

In a message Monday to FBI employees, Wray said McCabe would be retiring on March 18 and denied that the move stemmed from political pressure.

“I will not be swayed by political or other pressure in my decision-making,” Wray wrote.

(YWN / AP)