Former FBI deputy director's GoFundMe for legal defense raises over $250k in 6 hours

It's been a pretty strange year for politics. It's even stranger now that major political figures are crowdfunding their legal fees.

A GoFundMe stetup by "Friends of Andrew McCabe" launched Thursday to pay for the former FBI deputy director's legal defense fund.

McCabe's GoFundMe is not only trending, it's also raised a tremendous amount of money in the past few hours. As of the time of writing, it had raised $252,892 in just six short hours. People have been donating so quickly that the campaign increased its goal to $250,000 after it met its original $150,000 goal in less than four hours.

A majority of the donations are relatively small, ranging from $10-100.

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"Andrew McCabe's FBI career was long, distinguished, and unblemished," the fundraiser's description says. "He embraced the most daunting, difficult, and important challenges that the FBI and the country could assign to him over the past 21 years."

McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions two weeks ago, only 26 hours before retiring. McCabe's pension benefits are in question, since he was a day shy from its cut off requirement. However, funds raised from the GoFundMe will not go to benefit his retirement.

"No funds raised for the Andrew McCabe Legal Defense Fund will be used for anything beyond his defense of the allegations against him," according to the crowdfunding page. Any leftover funds will be donated to charity.

The GoFundMe also states that McCabe will "continue to fight for the pension and benefits he deserves, rather than accept any crowdfunding for that purpose."

The funds will also likely be used for representation in congressional inquiries. McCabe and his legal team haven't announced plans to sue for wrongful termination, but the GoFundMe notes "any potential lawsuits he might consider."

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McCabe is represented by former Department of Justice Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich. Bromwich tweeted that "Andy" is thankful for the support. "He got a raw deal and people know it."

Sessions fired McCabe after the Justice Department inspector general found he had disclosed sensitive information to the media and misled investigators, according to the Washington Post. The termination was also recommended by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility.