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The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is acknowledging that Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to fire former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe “may be justified.”

But Rep. Adam Schiff of California is also raising the question of whether it may be “tainted” because of McCabe’s potential role in a probe investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Schiff said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that it’s difficult to know whether the firing was legitimate because it happened before the release of an inspector general’s report that’s expected to conclude McCabe was not forthcoming about matters related to the FBI investigation of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Schiff notes that McCabe could be a relevant witness in the Russia probe as investigators look into whether Trump sought to thwart the FBI probe.

(AP)