U.S. agrees to restore pension to FBI official fired under Trump administration

Former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, settled a lawsuit with the Justice Department on Thursday, reinstating his full pension which he lost after being fired at the direction of former President Donald Trump.

According to the Associated Press, McCabe was fired following a report from the inspector general that he had authorized information to be leaked to a news reporter in 2018.

McCabe was fired only hours before he was set to retire from the Justice Department.  His firing caused him to forfeit his retirement pension.

However, the Justice Department appeared to reverse course Thursday, by vacating the termination, as well as expunging it from McCabe’s FBI personnel file.

"Politics should never play a role in the fair administration of justice and civil service personnel decisions," McCabe said in a statement following the announcement of the settlement.  "I hope that this result encourages the men and women of the FBI to continue to protect the American people by standing up for the truth and doing their jobs without fear of political retaliation."

In the lawsuit, McCabe denied any wrongdoing and accused Trump of firing him due to political motivations.