CNN's Andrew McCabe blasted for claiming FBI still doesn't know motive behind 2017 shooting of GOP lawmakers

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Media top headlines June 15

The New York Times admitting The Babylon Bee is satire, not ‘misinformation’ in a correction, the media ignoring Biden’s attack on GOP while abroad, despite criticizing Trump for violating political norm and ABC’s Terry Moran getting panned for suggesting GOP would end the filibuster ‘in a heartbeat’ round out today’s top media headlines

Former Deputy FBI Director-turned-CNN pundit Andrew McCabe was slammed on Tuesday for asserting that the motive behind the 2017 shooting of Republican lawmakers is still unknown. 

Monday marked the four-year anniversary of the attack at a baseball field in Alexandria where top Republicans were practicing ahead of the congressional baseball game. The shooting nearly took the life of House GOP Whip Steve Scalise. 

James Hodgkinson, the shooter who was killed by police at the scene, was apparently a campaign volunteer for Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign and an avid viewer of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" who left a heavy social media footprint. He allegedly had a list of names of Republican lawmakers in his pocket and asked a witness if the players on the baseball field were Republicans before he began his shooting rampage. 

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However, while discussing the rollout of Attorney General Merrick Garland's new efforts to combat domestic extremism, McCabe seemed perplexed by the DOJ boss's reference to the attack against Republicans. 

"[Garland] did it very carefully by saying the shooting by someone who committed the shooting only after he confirmed that the players were Republicans," McCabe said. "So, I think that reflects at the fact that the FBI still doesn’t exactly know what that shooter was up to. They never really uncovered the sort of detailed evidence that laid out a specific plot or an objective, but it is undeniable that he was targeting Republicans."

McCabe, who was hired by CNN as a senior law enforcement analyst after his 2018 firing from the DOJ for lying to investigators, was blasted by critics on social media for suggesting the motive behind the targeted shooting of GOP lawmakers remains a mystery.

"McCabe is a disgrace. Hodgkinson literally had a list of Republican congressional members’ names and verbally confirmed their presences before opening fire according to witnesses and FBI report," radio host Dana Loesch reacted.

"Left wing political activist: tries to murder an entire softball team of Republican senators and congressmen. Top FBI brains: We may never know what happened," The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway tweeted.

"Hmm. You mean the Bernie supporter who asked where the congressional Republicans were while holding a rifle in his hand? Yeah, this one is a puzzler all right," actor James Woods quipped.

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"When someone like McCabe pulls this when there is a clear pattern and documentation of baseball field shooting motive, but it's not politically comfortable for him, it makes me wonder about things like the Vegas shooting, which we are told the FBI can't find a motive," Spectator contributor Stephen Miller wrote, referring to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre that left nearly 60 dead. 

"Remember that guy who posted Rachel Maddow clips all over his Facebook page saying GOP was full of traitors and endangering US with treason, then went to a softball field and shot Republicans after confirming who they were? Not really sure what he was up to, says Andrew McCabe," journalist Glenn Greenwald knocked the former acting FBI director.

Even Scalise himself blasted McCabe's remarks. 

"Unbelievable. Andrew McCabe says the FBI isn't sure why we were attacked playing baseball. Seriously?" Scalise asked. 

He then listed, "-The gunman came with a list of Republicans - He verified we were Republicans before shooting - He was in the Facebook group 'Terminate the Republican Party.'"

"A real mystery," Scalise added. 

The FBI was recently under fire after it was called out by Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, that the agency had classified the 2017 shooting as "suicide by cop" instead of domestic terrorism. 

The incident was later reclassified amid intense backlash.