President Trump has fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey.
The White House said in a statement, “Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office. President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
In his letter (included below), Trump said:
I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
Comey’s termination was announced shortly after the FBI confirmed that he provided inaccurate testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about emails sent by Hillary Clinton’s aide, Huma Abedin.
According to ABC News, Comey had told the panel that Abedin had “forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails” to her husband, former Congressman Anthony Weiner, “some of which contained classified information.”
Comey also had stated, “[Abedin] appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding emails to him for him I think to print out for her.”
The FBI disputed these assertions, taking issue with the notion that it was a “regular practice” and also stating that the number of emails cited was exaggerated, noting that only a small number of emails contained information that was later deemed classified.
The Trump administration disputes claims that Comey’s firing was in some way related to the FBI’s investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, despite reports saying that Trump was angry about the situation. White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders denied such claims, saying it was Comey’s overall track record in his position with the agency that led to the decision.
President Trump said in some tweets that replacing Comey will bring somebody who will do a better job for the agency and that once things calm down, people in Washington will be thanking him:
James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017
Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2017
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the search for a new permanent FBI director will begin immediately. Several candidates are being interviewed:
- Adam Lee, special agent in charge for the Richmond division
- Michael Anderson, special agent in charge for the Chicago division
- Paul Abbate, executive assistant director for the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch
- William Evanina, the national counterintelligence executive and head of counterintelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
In the interim, Andrew McCabe was named acting FBI director and sworn in Tuesday evening. McCabe has been at the agency since 1996.
DOJ officials also said that McCabe remains a candidate as well.
