File Photo: Andrew McCabe, U.S. acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, attends a press conference at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down Monday, ahead of his planned retirement in March, according to multiple reports.
McCabe will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March, according to NBC News, citing sources.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Monday's briefing that President Donald Trump wasn't part of the decision-making process in McCabe's departure.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted Monday that McCabe "is, and has been, a dedicated public servant who has served this country well."
A career civil servant who had served at the FBI since 1996, McCabe has been at the center of ongoing tensions between the law enforcement agency and Republicans.
McCabe has been lashed out at by Republican lawmakers alleging systemic bias against the president the top tier of the FBI.
Trump also targeted McCabe for the FBI's investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as the country's secretary of state. No charges were brought against Clinton.
Trump reportedly met with McCabe at the Oval Office after the firing of FBI Director James Comey last May, and asked him whom he voted for in 2016.
Comey was overseeing the bureau's investigation into alleged Russian interference in that year's presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
The Republican president also blasted McCabe for his wife, Jill McCabe, who had previously run as a Democrat for a seat in Virginia's state Senate and received donations from then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a close ally of Clinton.
Trump asked in a December tweet that how McCabe could lead the Clinton probe when his wife got donations from "Clinton Puppets."
Sanders said Monday that the president stands by previous comments regarding McCabe and that the White House has "some concerns" over his work at the bureau.
