Trump brands ousted FBI chief a ‘showboat’
Donald Trump has attacked James Comey as a “showboat” and a “grandstander” in an interview seeking to justify his unexpected decision to fire his FBI director. “He’s a showboat, he’s a grand-stander, the FBI has been in turmoil,” Mr Trump said. “You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that.” It came as members of the FBI rose to defend their former boss, setting up a potential “war” between the White House and the bureau.
DONALD TRUMP has condemned James Comey as a “showboat” and a “grand-stander” in an interview in which he sought to justify his unexpected decision to fire the FBI director.
The US president also directly contradicted the narrative spun by his White House that he had fired Mr Comey following an urgent recommendation from the justice department.
“He’s a showboat, he’s a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil,” Mr Trump said. “You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that.”
Mr Trump’s character assassination came as members of the FBI rose to defend the reputation of their former boss, setting up the potential for what an informed source termed a “war” between the White House and the bureau.
Speaking before the Senate intelligence committee, Andrew Mccabe, the acting FBI director, declared it the “greatest privilege” of his career to have served with Mr Comey.
The president’s letter firing Mr Comey, and accompanying letters from the attorney general’s office, stated Mr Comey was not capable of leading the bureau, and the White House suggested he had lost the confidence of its staff.
“That’s not accurate,” Mr Mccabe said. “I can tell you that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI, and still does to this day.”
Mr Mccabe’s testimony was supported by the heads of two associations representing current and retired FBI agents and other personal.
“His support within the rank and file of the FBI is overwhelming,” said Thomas O’connor, a working FBI special agent who is president of the FBI Agents Association.
One official told The Washington Post that Mr Trump had “essentially declared war on a lot of people at the FBI,” and that “there will be a concerted effort to respond”.
In a statement made after he was fired Mr Comey seemed to urge calm: “I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed,” he said. “I hope you won’t either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.”
Mr Trump’s firing of Mr Comey was described as “Nixonian”, with many pointing out that not since Watergate has a president fired the person leading an inquiry into their actions. Mr Trump is reported to have been growing increasingly frustrated with the FBI’S investigation into allegations of collusion between his associates and Russia.
Mr Mccabe, long involved in the Russia investigation, told the Senate intelligence committee that the inquiry would continue despite Mr Comey’s dismissal. He also said he would refrain from giving the White House updates on it, and would tell Congress if there was any attempt to impede the inquiry.
He starkly disagreed with the White House characterisation of the Russia investigation as “probably one of the smallest things” on the FBI’S plate.
Mr Trump said yesterday that there was “no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians” and that “the Russians did not affect the vote”.
“If Russia or anybody else is trying to interfere with our elections I think it’s a horrible thing and I want to get to the bottom of it and I want to make sure it will never ever happen,” he said.
He said he had asked Mr Comey if he himself was being investigated. “I said, if it’s possible would you let me know, ‘Am I under investigation?’ He said, ‘You are not under investigation’.” Mr Mccabe declined to confirm in his testimony whether he had heard Mr Comey tell Mr Trump that the president was not a target of the investigation.
Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, called on the FBI to say whether it was investigating Mr Trump. He said: “Because it has failed to make this clear, speculation has run rampant.”
The comments came as the White House scrambled to create a coherent public narrative for the sacking. In the aftermath of the dismissal, marking only the second time an FBI director has been sacked in 109 years, the White House said it had followed the recom- mendations of the justice department.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had been in post for two weeks, wrote a three-page memo criticising the way Mr Comey had handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, but stopped short of recommending his dismissal.
Yesterday, informed sources said Mr Rosenstein had threatened to resign, incensed that he was being cast as the prime mover for the decision.
And Mr Trump confirmed that he had long been planning to fire Mr Comey. Mr Trump took Mr Comey’s recent testimony that he had felt “mildly nauseous” that his investigation into Mrs Clinton’s emails could have influenced the election, as a personal affront.
The dislike was mutual, with Mr Comey privately describing the president as “outside the realm of normal,” and even “crazy,” according to sources cited by The New York Times.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House deputy press secretary, said Mr Comey’s testimony to the Senate committee last week was the “final straw”. She added: “He fired him because he was not fit to do the job. The president knew Mr Comey was not up to the task. He wanted someone to bring credibility back to the FBI.”
Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, said Mr Rosenstein’s reputation as an “independent, apolitical actor” was at risk unless he begins sharing details of how the decision to fire Mr Comey was made.
The US president had been expected to visit FBI headquarters soon, but it was reported yesterday that the plan had been thrown out after agency officials told the White House that Mr Trump would not be greeted warmly following his firing of Mr Comey.
‘I can tell you that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day’