It all politically motivated . Did it cross any lines . Turning up the legal heat, President Trumps lawyer sues Stormy Daniels for 20 million. Then the porn stars attorney fires back with a new threat. Tamping down rumors and reports about whos next in the parade of President Trumps aides and cabinet members heading for the exit. The latest ahead on that. But we begin with this breaking news this morning, former fbi Deputy DirectorAndrew Mccabe lashing out at the Trump Administration following his firing last night. Attorney general Jeff Sessions fired him at 10 00 p. M. , 26 hours before his retirement. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams has more on this. How did this all unfold . Well this stems from an examination by the Justice Departments Inspector General into how the fbi conducted the entire Hillary Clinton investigation. The attorney general says mccabe was fired for repeatedly misleading investigators about his actions, but mccabe says this is the result of the administrations consistent attacks on the fbi. Andrew mccabe stepped down as the fbis Deputy Director in late january and his actual retirement date was tomorrow. But late friday, attorney general Jeff Sessions accepted a recommendation from the fbi itself, that mccabe should be fired after 21 years of service. The fbi recommended firing him over his decision to let fbi insiders talk to a reporter during the president ial campaign about the investigation of the clinton foundation. Attorney general Jeff Sessions said mccabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor when asked about it, including under oath on multiple occasions. And Justice Department officials said 19 other people had been fired from the fbi in the past year, for lack of candor. Mccabe was a frequent target of twitter attacks from the president. Who called him a comey friend and urged sessions to replace him. The white house spokeswoman thursday added her criticism. We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior. And by most accounts, a bad actor. And should have some cause for concern. In a statement mccabe said he had full authority to speak to the reporter and did so with fbi legal approval to clarify that the fbi was continuing an investigation that people in the Justice Department opposed. Mccabe said hes being singled out because he supported james comey after he was fired. Mccabe sheered the agent ranks by saying at the time that comeys firing would not derail the bureaus mission. Quite simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the fbi from doing the right thing, protecting the American People and upholding the constitution. Mccabe says his fire something part of an unpress deathed effort by the administration. Driven by the president himself, to destroy his reputation and possibly strip him of his pension. Overnight President Trump called the firing quote, a great day for the hardworking men and women of the fbi and for democracy. He took another shot at james comey, calling him sanctimonious and saying he made mccabe look like a choir boy who knew all about the lies and corruption at the highest levels of the fbi. Alex . Pete, the last line of your piece there, talking about losing pension, i mean hes been at the fbi for 21 years. Can that all go up in smoke now . Not necessarily. There are some options according to the personnel experts that weve talked to. That he can pursue. Its not going to be easy. The important fact here is that the firing doesnt erase the fact that he has 21 years of service. And the question is whether that can still be tapped into to get him at least part, if not all of his pension. Pete williams, a heck of a Birthday Gift for Andrew Mccabe who turns 50 tomorrow, his retirement date. Lets bring in democratic senator ben cardin of maryland. A member of the Senate Foreign relations committee. I want your reaction when you heard this news about Andrew Mccabe. Alex, first good to be with you, its very vindictive by the Trump Administration. Its not only personally devastating to mr. Mccabe and his reputation, but it also is a reflection on the administrations disdain for the fbi itself. And i just think this is outrageous, the department of justice, the fbi should be independent and this type of Political Behavior should be unacceptable in america. Sir, as you heard in petes report there, mccabe is going after the Trump Administration for his firing. He let out a blistering Statement Last night, late. But if career officials at the Inspector Generals office first faulted him and recommended this, does it make it not nakedly political as mccabe might suggest . There are ways of handling disciplinary actions to fire someone, just before his retirement date is very suspicious. It looks like its politically vindictive and it just, a reflection of how this administration feels about the fbi. Theres so many things going on, heres just one more example of the Trump Administration trying to interfere with the independents, the career people at the fbi. In your assessment, sir, did mccabe do anything wrong . You know, i really cant speak to that. Im not privy to all the information. I know that hes been a public servant. I know that he feels deeply about the mission of the fbi. I know he has the support of the rank and file at the fbi. And this is no way that he should be treated. I know when james Comey Told Congress that the president asked him to let go of the fbis flynn investigation, you tweeted that trump was inappropriately prying into fbi investigations. So here we are a year later, nearly. Whats your take . Do you think the president had any direct influence over his a. G. , Jeff Sessions decision . Well i think that the attorney general did the right thing in setting up mr. Mueller in the special counsel. And i guess recusing himself, mr. Rosenstein actually appointed mr. Mueller. But mr. Sessions, the attorney general, did the right thing when he said that he had a conflict and under the rules of the department of justice, he could not be involved in the Russian Investigation. I think he stayed out of the Russian Investigation. And mr. Rosenstein has been the principal person in regards to those decisions. Thats how it should be. With regard to the fbi, which as you know is currently investigating the possible ties between the president and russia, do you think mccabes dismissal intimidates agents who are now assigned to the russia probe . I think theres a lot of questions as to how much the Trump Administration will try to influence the independence of the department of justice and the fbi. Yes, i think theres a chilling impact on individuals who are trying to do their work at the department of justice and at the fbi. What about congress, sir . Is congress conducting any oversight of the many highlevel firings from trumps Justice Department . And what happenes if democrats take back the house or senate . Clearry right now the republicans who control the house and Senate Control all investigations, we cannot set up democrats, cannot determine investigations or set the agenda of either the floor of the house or senate. In the mid term if the democrats take back the house or the senate, that changes and it gives us more opportunity for oversight. Quite frankly i think the republicans have been very reluctant to do appropriate oversight, when the Trump Administration. And thats disappointing, because one of the principle roles of the congress of the United States as an independent branch of government is to oversight the executive branch. Whether its a democrat or republican in the white house or control of congress. I think the Republican Leadership has not carried out that responsibility. Senator card, im going to switch top ins, the department of Homeland Security is accusing russia of hacking into political infrastructure. Power plants and energy grids. Some hacks occurring as recently as last year. Who is responsible for preventing this . And are they doing enough . Alex, i issued a report in january about russias activities, not just here in the United States, but in europe and around the world, we see in the european countries, the leaders taking action to protect against cyberattacks. To protect against misinformation to protect against the misuse of social media. To protect against financing by russia of the Campaign Activities within their own country. In the United States, the president of the United States has not even acknowledged that russia is a threat against us. And certainly has not taken the necessary steps. What i want to see this administration do is charge all of their agencies with protecting america from mr. Putins attacks, whether its our energy grid, whether its our financial grid. Whether its our free elections, whether it is our department of defense. All should be, we have to have a comprehensive strategy, recognizing that mr. Putin will do things to try to undermine our democratic country and our National Security. As you know, sir, word came down this week about something which allegedly happened several weeks ago when special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization seeking documents about russia. What does this say to you about the investigation . Mueller now requesting material from trumps organization, from his business. Well you know, mr. Mueller has been conducting an independent investigation, he has been very tightlipped about what he is doing. I admire that in the professionalism of which hes going about. Obviously he is concerned about connections between mr. Trumps business dealings, which by the way, mr. Trump has not divested of. Hes the first president to refuse to set his personal business into a separate trust. So it makes him vulnerable. It makes our country vulnerable. I think mr. Mueller wants to know more about that. Senator ben cardin, awfully good to see you again, sir. Thank you so much for joining me on this saturday morning. Thank you. Joining me now, political reporter for npr and jeremy peters, a msnbc contributor. Jeremy, its no secret that the president wanted to see mccabe go. Do you think theres a sense of relief there in the white house . Or at least on behalf of the president , that this has happened now . Among the president , his senior advisers, a lot of the Republican Party and frankly a lot of trump supporters, there is this belief that the fbi, the Justice Department, and more broadly, institutions of power and culture in this country, are out to get this president. So yes, i do think that they are highfiving one another. You saw the president s tweets this morning as Pete Williams was reporting earlier. Hes absolutely ecstatic about this. He thinks this was a great move, not only great for him personally, but great for the country and great for the credibility of the fbi. The problem is the president has continuously waged war on these institutions that the country used to have great deference for. Our political system, our media, and now our Law Enforcement. So i think theres a real question, just about the way in the end, when history looks at this trump presidency, what he has done to the institutions that we once were very respectful of. We revered. Danielle, what about this move by sessions . Does it change the attorney generals standing with the president . Listen its clear its been on rocky ground for months now. Right. You know we cant be clear on whats going on in attorney general sessions head. The fact does remain that you know, over the last year or so, we had seen the president you know, in one tweet he sort of seemed to be goading mr. Sessions into you know getting rid of mr. Mccabe. The president also taunt pld mccabe on twitter. So i mean you know look, were still going to wait for that Inspector General report from inside the fbi to see what it says about mr. Mccabe. If he really did mislead anybody. But you know, these various actions that the president has taken, including his sort of i think one of your reporters said gleeful tweets certainly threatens to cast a different pall over all of this this. Mccabes statement says this attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the fbi, Law Enforcement and intelligence professionals more generally. Part of this administrations ongoing war on the fbi and the efforts of the special counsel investigation which continue to this day. So jeremy, you talk about how this is undermining this reaction, these revered institutions in our country. But mccabes dismissal was made based on the recommendation of the fbis disciplinary office. So does that cover any influence that the Trump Administration may have had over this decision . Absolutely. There was just cause apparently for his firing. His firing was recommended by veteran fbi officials. This was not something that was done on a whim. There was a long investigation, he released some information that the Justice Department felt he shouldnt have. To reporters. And then contradicted himself or was less than forthcoming about it when asked about it. So yes, there is a process that went through that appeared to go correctly. Now that said, his firing also taints his credibility as a witness in some peoples eyes. And thats what mccabes lawyer will say. Thats what the people close to him are saying now. Is that this is more about undermining the Mueller Investigation. Because mccabe is in a position to corroborate what comey has said about trumps interfering, trumps trying to get comey to defend him publicly and say there was no russia collusion. Thats whats really at the heart of all this. And to that point, what jeremy has just said, danielle, is that why the president sent out that tweet overnight . Because hes really putting these two men together in this tweet. You know, thats altogether possible. Its also true that you know, look, mr. Mccabe put out that very fiery statement that you know, is certainly something the president is probably not terribly happy about. Its possible the president is just swinging back, which as we know is a thing that he likes to do. Do you think were going to hear a lot about the i. G. s report from the doj . Are are they going to have to come out and talk about this, jeremy . This isnt going away. This is like Stormy Daniels, like the broader mueller probe. This is just going to be part of the dripdripdrip of the donald trump presidency. The ongoing saga that has him frankly in americans heads 24 7. Which guarantees well be having these conversations again. Danielle and jeremy, thank you so much for your time this morning. We have new developments unfolding, the Stormy Daniels saga, including how the president s name is being directly linked to the case for the very first time. But those days are over. Now, i take metamucil every day. It naturally traps and removes the waste that weighs me down. So i feel. Lighter. Try metamucil and begin to feel what lighter feels like. Take the 2week challenge and see the difference metamucil can make. Begin to feel what lighter feels like. Available at walmart and walmart. Com tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. To help you grow and protect your wealth. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. Tripadvisor helps you book a. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. You or joints. Something for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Approaching 20 past. More breaking news this morning, as the president is now linked to the Stormy Daniels legal battle for the first time in a filing by his personal attorney. It happened late last night and nbcs White House CorrespondentKelly Odonnell has more. Good saturday morning to you. What are the steps that are being