Trump Fires FBI Director Comey

[superbeets]

[h=3]NEW CHIEF G-MAN WAS ALSO CAUGHT UP IN CLINTON SCANDAL[/h]James Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, will take over the law enforcement agency.



McCabe's wife is a Democrat who ran for the state senate in 2015 in Virginia, before he was promoted to the FBI's No. 2 position.



Terry McAullife, the Virginia governor and a close friend of both the Clintons, directed $675,000 Jill McCabe's way for her campaign.



The Virginia governor's political action committee, Common Good VA, spent $467,000 on her losing campaign. The state Democratic Party gave her nearly $208,000.



A month before McAullife's PAC made its first donation to McCabe, Hillary Clinton headlined a fundraiser for the group.



As deputy director of the FBI, it was McCabe oversaw the investigation into Clinton's secret server, as well as the bureau's investigations into alleged terrorists and spies.



He is under review by an inspector for his involvement in the Clinton case, in light of his wife's ties to the former presidential candidate.




Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Committee, also asked the FBI in a March letter about McCabe's role in the Russian probe and whether it 'raises the appearance a conflict of interest in light of his wife's ties with Clinton's associates.'



The Republican lawmaker asked Comey if McCabe would be recuing himself from that investigation, suggesting in the letter that McCabe faces a possible conflict of interest.

 

[superbeets]

+22

+22

+22

+22

 

[superbeets]

Saltair, Boston, United States, 2 hours ago
Now that's a President.

 

[superbeets]

TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP

 

[Albatross]

So liberals want him fired in November. Now he is the holy man. Damn make up your mind.

 

[superbeets]

Good for Trump!!!! What a leader!

 

[flashmo]

Not sure what that has to do with this.

That you are a fucking hypocrite

 

[919]

5sBlake Hounshell
@blakehounshell
[h=1]FRESH REPORTING from @jdawsey1: Trump was enraged about the Russia probe in the days leading up to Comey’s firing [/h]


Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russiapolitico.com

 

[919]

That you are a fucking hypocrite

Perhaps you don't know the meaning of the word

 

[919]

Donald Trump’s decision to fire the FBI director, James Comey, who was investigating links between the president’s associates and the Russian government, has taken US democracy into dark and dangerous new territory. That was the assessment of Democratic leaders, legal observers and security experts last night, with some drawing direct comparisons to Watergate and tinpot dictatorships.


FBI directors are given 10-year terms in office, precisely to insulate them from politics. It is very rare to fire them. The last time it happened was 24 years ago, when Bill Clinton sacked William Sessions, who had clung to office despite a damning internal ethics report detailing abuse of office, including the use of an FBI plane for family trips.


How Comey became tangled in the US election – and why it led to his downfall
Comey’s sacking has taken place in very different circumstances. It came on a night when CNN reported that a grand jury had issued subpoenas in the investigation of the Trump camp’s contacts with Russian officials, and after had confirmed to Congress that more than one person connected to the Trump campaign was the subject of an FBI counter-intelligence investigation. He had also indicated that he was investigating leaks from inside the FBI to the Trump campaign in the course of the election.





The New York Times has reported that Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was “charged with coming up with reasons to fire him”. The official reason offered was Comey’s handling of the enquiry into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for classified information. Comey’s announcement in July 2016 that there would no be prosecution, while criticising the Democratic presidential candidate and her aides for being “extremely careless” in their handling of classified material, is singled out in a memo by the newly appointed deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.


In one of the first acts in his new job, Rosenstein said Comey had exceeded his authority with that announcement.


Comey was castigated from both sides for his handling of the Clinton emails. But Democrats were adamant on Tuesday that was not the real reason for his dismissal. It was pointed out that during the campaign, Trump and his team warmly praised Comey’s decision to speak up.


Democrats: Trump firing Comey could raise ‘grave constitutional issues’Robby Mook, Clinton’s former campaign manager, tweeted on Tuesday night that US politics had entered a “twilight zone … I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me.”




Matthew Miller, a former justice department spokesman in the Obama administration, said: “Trump came up with the most convenient excuse possible to fire the person investigating him, but it’s just that: an excuse. This is legitimately terrifying.”


Several commentators compared Comey’s sudden sacking with the 1973 “Saturday night massacre” when President Richard Nixon dismissed Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor appointed to look into the Watergate affair.


“This really is astonishing,” said Scott Horton, a New York attorney and expert in international law. “The most immediate comparison is the Saturday Night Massacre … by firing Comey, Trump is asserting his control over the FBI on the political level.”


Malcolm Nance, a former navy cryptographer and author of a book on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, said: “This is a Nixonian move clearly designed to take out the man who was investigating collusion with a foreign power.





“We are in a completely new space. It will blow past Watergate. Nixon was being investigated for crimes. This is when the FBI is in the middle of a counter-espionage investigation. This is a spy hunt. We have never had that in the White House. This is third world dictator stuff.”


Jeffrey Toobin, a lawyer and legal commentator, called the move “a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States”.


“This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies,” Toobin said.


On Monday a former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, had given an account of her warnings to the White House, less than a week into the Trump presidency, that his national security adviser Michael Flynn had been compromised by Russia and was vulnerable to blackmail.


It took 18 days before Trump fired Flynn – and he only did so after the details of undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington were leaked to the press. The White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, said Yates’s warnings had not been acted on immediately because the administration had seen her as “a political opponent”. Trump, of course, also fired Yates.


Swap 'Clinton' for 'Trump' to see just how bad the Flynn scandal is | Richard Wolffe
Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent, said the firing of Comey marked “a dangerous time for our nation”.


“The cancerous partisanship politics is not only obscuring the Russia affair. It is ‘dismantling’ the basics of our national security,” he tweeted.





Thomas Wright, the director of the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution, said: “This ought to scare the living daylights out of Congress. They now have to choose between safeguarding the republic and protecting the president.”


Trump has thus far been able to rely on broad Republican support in the face of the investigation of his campaign’s links with Moscow. But there were signs on Wednesday night that Comey’s dismissal had unnerved some senior GOP figures.


Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee conducting one of the investigations into Trump-Russia links, said in a statement he was “troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey’s termination”.


Richard Haass, a foreign policy expert who had been mooted for a top position in the Trump administration, said in a tweet that the country’s global image and “the reputation of its democracy” was at stake. Haass joined the growing chorus of demands for an independent investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

 

[919]

WHITE HOUSE
[h=1]Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia[/h]The president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates.
By JOSH DAWSEY
05/10/17 12:02 AM EDT

President Donald Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower. | Getty

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President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn't call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters.


He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.

Story Continued Below
​

Trump's firing of the high-profile FBI director on the 110th day since taking office marked another sudden turn for an administration that has fired its acting attorney general, national security adviser and now its FBI director, who Trump had praised until recent weeks and even blew a kiss to during a January appearance.


The news stunned Comey, who saw his dismissal on TV while speaking inside the FBI office in Los Angeles. It startled all but the uppermost ring of White House advisers, who said grumbling about Comey hadn't dominated their own morning senior staff meetings. Other top officials learned just before it happened and were unaware he was considering firing Comey. "Nobody really knew," one senior White House official said. "Our phones all buzzed and people said, What?"


By ousting the FBI director investigating his campaign and associates, Trump may have added more fuel to the fire he is furiously trying to contain — and he was quickly criticized by a chorus of Republicans and Democrats. "The timing of this firing was very troubling," said Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican.



[h=3]Trump shocks with ouster of FBI's Comey[/h]By JOSH GERSTEIN


Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation — particularly Comey admitting in front of the Senate that the FBI was investigating his campaign — and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower.


Bipartisan criticism of Comey had mounted since last summer after his lengthy statement outlining why he was closing the investigation into Clinton’s private email server.


But the fallout seemed to take the White House by surprise. Trump made a round of calls around 5 p.m., asking for support from senators. White House officials believed it would be a "win-win" because Republicans and Democrats alike have problems with the FBI director, one person briefed on their deliberations said.


Instead, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him he was making a big mistake — and Trump seemed "taken aback," according to a person familiar with the call.

By Tuesday evening, the president was watching the coverage of his decision and frustrated no one was on TV defending him, a White House official said. He wanted surrogates out there beating the drum.


Instead, advisers were attacking each other for not realizing the gravity of the situation as events blew up. "How are you not defending your position for three solid hours on TV?" the White House aide said.


Two White House officials said there was little communications strategy in handling the firing, and that staffers were given talking points late Tuesday for hastily arranged media appearances. Aides soon circulated previous quotes from Schumer hitting Comey. After Schumer called for a special prosecutor, the White House huddled in press secretary Sean Spicer's office to devise a strategy and sent "fresh faces" to TV, one White House official said.



[h=3]Timeline of events leading to Comey's firing[/h]By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

By Tuesday night, aides were using TV appearances to spin the firing as a simple bureaucratic matter and call for an end to the investigation. "It's time to move on," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary, said on Fox News.


In his letter dismissing Comey, Trump said the FBI director had given him three private assurances that he wasn't under investigation. The White House declined to say when those conversations happened — or why Comey would volunteer such information. It is not the first time Trump has publicly commented on an ongoing investigation — typically a no-no for presidents. He said earlier this month that Comey had done Clinton a favor by letting her off easy.


Trump received letters from Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, calling for Comey's dismissal, on Tuesday, a spokesman said. The president then decided to fire him based on the recommendations and moved quickly. The spokesman said Trump did not ask for the letters in advance, and that White House officials had no idea they were coming.


But several other people familiar with the events said Trump had talked about the firing for over a week, and the letters were written to give him rationale to fire Comey.


The decision marked a turnabout for Trump. On the campaign trail, the candidate led chants of "Lock her up!" and praised Comey’s “guts” in October for reopening the probe into her email server. He joked openly with Comey at the White House two days after the inauguration.


Trump, as one White House official noted, believed Comey was too soft on Clinton — not too unfair, as Rosenstein’s letter Tuesday indicated.


At FBI headquarters, one senior official said the bureau was essentially in lockdown, not answering calls flooding in and referring all questions to the Justice Department. "I got nothing for you. Sorry," said the official. "We were caught totally off guard. But we are not commenting in any kind of way, and referring calls to DOJ."


[h=2]Breaking News Alerts[/h]






Comey had flown on an FBI plane to Los Angeles for a "diversity and recruiting" event. Trump’s director of Oval Office operations, longtime security aide Keith Schiller, hand-delivered the dismissal letter to FBI headquarters.


By Tuesday evening, the shock that had spread throughout the ranks of current and former FBI officials was mixed with a growing sense of anger among the many Comey loyalists, and demands for answers as to why the director had been fired — and why now.


“We just have no idea why this happened. No idea,” said one recently retired top FBI official who worked closely with Comey on many high-profile investigations. “No one knew this was coming. Everyone is just shocked that this happened.”


There was no immediate front-runner for the job, one White House official said. "If there's a list, I haven't seen it," said one senior White House official.


While shock dominated much of the FBI and the White House, the mood was more elated at Roger Stone's house in Florida. Several Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks.


On Twitter, Stone signaled praise for the move by posting an image of Trump from The Apprentice saying "You're fired."


Stone declined to comment Tuesday night but said he was enjoying a fine cigar.


Josh Meyer, Tara Palmeri and Annie Karni contributed to this report.

 

[919]

I think this is helpful perspective

 

[superbeets]

5sBlake Hounshell
@blakehounshell
FRESH REPORTING from @jdawsey1: Trump was enraged about the Russia probe in the days leading up to Comey’s firing




Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russiapolitico.com

• Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote formal memo saying they had no confidence in him

cheersgif

 

[superbeets]

WHITE HOUSE
Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia

The president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates.
By JOSH DAWSEY
05/10/17 12:02 AM EDT

President Donald Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower. | Getty

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google +

• Email
• Comment
• Print

President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn't call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters.


He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.

Story Continued Below
​

Trump's firing of the high-profile FBI director on the 110th day since taking office marked another sudden turn for an administration that has fired its acting attorney general, national security adviser and now its FBI director, who Trump had praised until recent weeks and even blew a kiss to during a January appearance.


The news stunned Comey, who saw his dismissal on TV while speaking inside the FBI office in Los Angeles. It startled all but the uppermost ring of White House advisers, who said grumbling about Comey hadn't dominated their own morning senior staff meetings. Other top officials learned just before it happened and were unaware he was considering firing Comey. "Nobody really knew," one senior White House official said. "Our phones all buzzed and people said, What?"


By ousting the FBI director investigating his campaign and associates, Trump may have added more fuel to the fire he is furiously trying to contain — and he was quickly criticized by a chorus of Republicans and Democrats. "The timing of this firing was very troubling," said Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican.



Trump shocks with ouster of FBI's Comey

By JOSH GERSTEIN


Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation — particularly Comey admitting in front of the Senate that the FBI was investigating his campaign — and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower.


Bipartisan criticism of Comey had mounted since last summer after his lengthy statement outlining why he was closing the investigation into Clinton’s private email server.


But the fallout seemed to take the White House by surprise. Trump made a round of calls around 5 p.m., asking for support from senators. White House officials believed it would be a "win-win" because Republicans and Democrats alike have problems with the FBI director, one person briefed on their deliberations said.


Instead, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him he was making a big mistake — and Trump seemed "taken aback," according to a person familiar with the call.

By Tuesday evening, the president was watching the coverage of his decision and frustrated no one was on TV defending him, a White House official said. He wanted surrogates out there beating the drum.


Instead, advisers were attacking each other for not realizing the gravity of the situation as events blew up. "How are you not defending your position for three solid hours on TV?" the White House aide said.


Two White House officials said there was little communications strategy in handling the firing, and that staffers were given talking points late Tuesday for hastily arranged media appearances. Aides soon circulated previous quotes from Schumer hitting Comey. After Schumer called for a special prosecutor, the White House huddled in press secretary Sean Spicer's office to devise a strategy and sent "fresh faces" to TV, one White House official said.



Timeline of events leading to Comey's firing

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

By Tuesday night, aides were using TV appearances to spin the firing as a simple bureaucratic matter and call for an end to the investigation. "It's time to move on," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary, said on Fox News.


In his letter dismissing Comey, Trump said the FBI director had given him three private assurances that he wasn't under investigation. The White House declined to say when those conversations happened — or why Comey would volunteer such information. It is not the first time Trump has publicly commented on an ongoing investigation — typically a no-no for presidents. He said earlier this month that Comey had done Clinton a favor by letting her off easy.


Trump received letters from Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, calling for Comey's dismissal, on Tuesday, a spokesman said. The president then decided to fire him based on the recommendations and moved quickly. The spokesman said Trump did not ask for the letters in advance, and that White House officials had no idea they were coming.


But several other people familiar with the events said Trump had talked about the firing for over a week, and the letters were written to give him rationale to fire Comey.


The decision marked a turnabout for Trump. On the campaign trail, the candidate led chants of "Lock her up!" and praised Comey’s “guts” in October for reopening the probe into her email server. He joked openly with Comey at the White House two days after the inauguration.


Trump, as one White House official noted, believed Comey was too soft on Clinton — not too unfair, as Rosenstein’s letter Tuesday indicated.


At FBI headquarters, one senior official said the bureau was essentially in lockdown, not answering calls flooding in and referring all questions to the Justice Department. "I got nothing for you. Sorry," said the official. "We were caught totally off guard. But we are not commenting in any kind of way, and referring calls to DOJ."


Breaking News Alerts








Comey had flown on an FBI plane to Los Angeles for a "diversity and recruiting" event. Trump’s director of Oval Office operations, longtime security aide Keith Schiller, hand-delivered the dismissal letter to FBI headquarters.


By Tuesday evening, the shock that had spread throughout the ranks of current and former FBI officials was mixed with a growing sense of anger among the many Comey loyalists, and demands for answers as to why the director had been fired — and why now.


“We just have no idea why this happened. No idea,” said one recently retired top FBI official who worked closely with Comey on many high-profile investigations. “No one knew this was coming. Everyone is just shocked that this happened.”


There was no immediate front-runner for the job, one White House official said. "If there's a list, I haven't seen it," said one senior White House official.


While shock dominated much of the FBI and the White House, the mood was more elated at Roger Stone's house in Florida. Several Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks.


On Twitter, Stone signaled praise for the move by posting an image of Trump from The Apprentice saying "You're fired."


Stone declined to comment Tuesday night but said he was enjoying a fine cigar.


Josh Meyer, Tara Palmeri and Annie Karni contributed to this report.

 

[superbeets]

I think this is helpful perspective

I think this is helpful perspective

 

[superbeets]

5sBlake Hounshell
@blakehounshell
FRESH REPORTING from @jdawsey1: Trump was enraged about the Russia probe in the days leading up to Comey’s firing




Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russiapolitico.com

[h=3]COMEY: NEW VICTIM OF CLINTON'S TOXIC EMAIL SCANDAL[/h]
March 2015: It becomes publicly known that Hillary Clinton, during her tenure as United States Secretary of State, had used her family's private email server for official communications and FBI opened investigation.


May 2016: The State Department's Office of the Inspector General released an 83-page report about the State Department's email practices, including Clinton's.


July 2016: FBI director James Comey announces the bureau's investigation had concluded that Clinton was 'extremely careless' in handling her email system but recommended that no charges be filed against her. Two days later the State Department reopens its probe into the email controversy.


September 2016: DailyMail.com reveals Huma Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner has sexted a 15-year-old girl. The FBI investigates Weiner, already known as a sexting-addicted pervert, for sexual contact with a minor


October 2016: Eleven days before the election, Comey notifies Congress the FBI is reopening the case due to emails found on a laptop used by Weiner including some from Abedin's Clintonemail.com address


November 2016: Comey notifies Congress the conclusion that Clinton is in the clear is unchanged - but day slater she loses the election. Democrats blame Comey.


April 2017: Clinton surfaces to explicitly blame Comey, Russia and misogyny for her loss.


May 2017: Comey 'misspeaks' in Senate testimony, saying Abedin sent hundreds or thousands of emails to her husband. In fact she only sent the pervert a handful.


9 May: Comey is dramatically fired with immediate effect by the president.




cheersgif

 

[superbeets]

I think this is helpful perspective

I think this is helpful perspective

+22

+22

+22

+22

 

[superbeets]

[h=1]Blindsided James Comey found out he was fired when news flashed up on TV while he spoke to FBI employees in LA and thought he was being PRANKED when news he was fired flashed up on TV while he spoke to FBI employees in LA[/h]


@)

 

[superbeets]

WHITE HOUSE
Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia

The president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates.
By JOSH DAWSEY
05/10/17 12:02 AM EDT

President Donald Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower. | Getty

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google +

• Email
• Comment
• Print

President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn't call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters.


He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.

Story Continued Below
​

Trump's firing of the high-profile FBI director on the 110th day since taking office marked another sudden turn for an administration that has fired its acting attorney general, national security adviser and now its FBI director, who Trump had praised until recent weeks and even blew a kiss to during a January appearance.


The news stunned Comey, who saw his dismissal on TV while speaking inside the FBI office in Los Angeles. It startled all but the uppermost ring of White House advisers, who said grumbling about Comey hadn't dominated their own morning senior staff meetings. Other top officials learned just before it happened and were unaware he was considering firing Comey. "Nobody really knew," one senior White House official said. "Our phones all buzzed and people said, What?"


By ousting the FBI director investigating his campaign and associates, Trump may have added more fuel to the fire he is furiously trying to contain — and he was quickly criticized by a chorus of Republicans and Democrats. "The timing of this firing was very troubling," said Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican.



Trump shocks with ouster of FBI's Comey

By JOSH GERSTEIN


Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigation — particularly Comey admitting in front of the Senate that the FBI was investigating his campaign — and that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower.


Bipartisan criticism of Comey had mounted since last summer after his lengthy statement outlining why he was closing the investigation into Clinton’s private email server.


But the fallout seemed to take the White House by surprise. Trump made a round of calls around 5 p.m., asking for support from senators. White House officials believed it would be a "win-win" because Republicans and Democrats alike have problems with the FBI director, one person briefed on their deliberations said.


Instead, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him he was making a big mistake — and Trump seemed "taken aback," according to a person familiar with the call.

By Tuesday evening, the president was watching the coverage of his decision and frustrated no one was on TV defending him, a White House official said. He wanted surrogates out there beating the drum.


Instead, advisers were attacking each other for not realizing the gravity of the situation as events blew up. "How are you not defending your position for three solid hours on TV?" the White House aide said.


Two White House officials said there was little communications strategy in handling the firing, and that staffers were given talking points late Tuesday for hastily arranged media appearances. Aides soon circulated previous quotes from Schumer hitting Comey. After Schumer called for a special prosecutor, the White House huddled in press secretary Sean Spicer's office to devise a strategy and sent "fresh faces" to TV, one White House official said.



Timeline of events leading to Comey's firing

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

By Tuesday night, aides were using TV appearances to spin the firing as a simple bureaucratic matter and call for an end to the investigation. "It's time to move on," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary, said on Fox News.


In his letter dismissing Comey, Trump said the FBI director had given him three private assurances that he wasn't under investigation. The White House declined to say when those conversations happened — or why Comey would volunteer such information. It is not the first time Trump has publicly commented on an ongoing investigation — typically a no-no for presidents. He said earlier this month that Comey had done Clinton a favor by letting her off easy.


Trump received letters from Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, calling for Comey's dismissal, on Tuesday, a spokesman said. The president then decided to fire him based on the recommendations and moved quickly. The spokesman said Trump did not ask for the letters in advance, and that White House officials had no idea they were coming.


But several other people familiar with the events said Trump had talked about the firing for over a week, and the letters were written to give him rationale to fire Comey.


The decision marked a turnabout for Trump. On the campaign trail, the candidate led chants of "Lock her up!" and praised Comey’s “guts” in October for reopening the probe into her email server. He joked openly with Comey at the White House two days after the inauguration.


Trump, as one White House official noted, believed Comey was too soft on Clinton — not too unfair, as Rosenstein’s letter Tuesday indicated.


At FBI headquarters, one senior official said the bureau was essentially in lockdown, not answering calls flooding in and referring all questions to the Justice Department. "I got nothing for you. Sorry," said the official. "We were caught totally off guard. But we are not commenting in any kind of way, and referring calls to DOJ."


Breaking News Alerts








Comey had flown on an FBI plane to Los Angeles for a "diversity and recruiting" event. Trump’s director of Oval Office operations, longtime security aide Keith Schiller, hand-delivered the dismissal letter to FBI headquarters.


By Tuesday evening, the shock that had spread throughout the ranks of current and former FBI officials was mixed with a growing sense of anger among the many Comey loyalists, and demands for answers as to why the director had been fired — and why now.


“We just have no idea why this happened. No idea,” said one recently retired top FBI official who worked closely with Comey on many high-profile investigations. “No one knew this was coming. Everyone is just shocked that this happened.”


There was no immediate front-runner for the job, one White House official said. "If there's a list, I haven't seen it," said one senior White House official.


While shock dominated much of the FBI and the White House, the mood was more elated at Roger Stone's house in Florida. Several Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks.


On Twitter, Stone signaled praise for the move by posting an image of Trump from The Apprentice saying "You're fired."


Stone declined to comment Tuesday night but said he was enjoying a fine cigar.


Josh Meyer, Tara Palmeri and Annie Karni contributed to this report.

+4

'This has nothing to do with Russia,' Conway definitively told Cooper, who questioned the timing of the firing

 

[superbeets]

Comey was such a TWAT


[FONT=franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif]Comey said the FBI closed its investigation into Abedin after concluding [/FONT][FONT=franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif]she had no idea what she was doing was in violation of the law.[/FONT][FONT=franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif][/FONT]@)

[FONT=franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif]He allowed politics to cloud his judgement.[/FONT]


Good Riddance to corruption,