FBI in turmoil over Comey sacking
UNITED STATES: The FBI has been left reeling by US President Donald Trump’s unexpected firing of its director James Comey, with agency staff scheduling an emergency high-level meeting amid speculation about who could replace Comey in the top job.
Trump sacked Comey yesterday amidst a probe into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign’s possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome. The move sparked a backlash from some Democrats in Congress, who said the decision had the appearance of a coverup, and from some Republicans, who called the timing troubling.
The official said the FBI had no idea the Trump administration was considering dismissing Comey, and the news ‘‘took even top officials by surprise’’. An FBI spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Comey, who was appointed by former Democratic president Barack Obama, had 61⁄2 years left in his term as director. The new director must be appointed by Trump and confirmed by the US Senate.
Comey is the third high-profile law-enforcement official to be fired under Trump. Preet Bharara was fired as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Sally Yates was fired as acting attorney general.
Comey was speaking to agents at the bureau’s field office in Los Angeles during a recruiting trip when news of his sacking flashed across a television screen, a law enforcement official who was at the briefing said.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Comey chuckled when he saw the news flash but continued to speak to the agents. He later left Los Angeles on a flight to Washington, DC.
Trump fired Comey at the recommendation of senior Justice Department officials, who said he had treated Trump’s Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton unfairly and in doing so damaged the credibility of the FBI and the department.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Comey’s ouster will affect the Russia probe.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Comey’s deputy, Andrew Mccabe, would become acting director of the FBI.
As a presidential candidate, Trump explicitly criticised Comey and Mccabe for their roles in the Clinton probe while at other times praising Comey for his ‘‘guts’’.
Officials said Comey was fired because senior Justice Department officials concluded that he had violated the department’s principles and procedures last year by publicly discussing the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Just last week, Trump publicly accused Comey of giving Clinton ‘‘a free pass for many bad deeds’’ when he decided not to recommend criminal charges in the case.
Democrats immediately linked the dismissal to the Russia probe, and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to lead the investigation and take the matter out of the hands of Justice Department leadership.
‘‘The decision by a president whose campaign associates are under investigation by the FBI for collusion with Russia to fire the man overseeing that investigation, upon the recommendation of an Attorney General who has recused himself from that investigation, raises profound questions about whether the White House is brazenly interfering in a criminal matter,’’ said California’s Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is looking into Russian interference in the election.
- Reuters, AP, Washington Post