Trump: ‘Fast decision’ possible on FBI chief

President Donald Trump gestures aboard Air Force One before his departure Saturday on the way to Lynchburg, Va., to give the commencement address for Liberty University.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “we can make a fast decision” on a new FBI director, possibly by late next week, before he leaves on his first foreign trip since taking office.

“Even that is possible,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he could announce his nominee by Friday, when he is scheduled to leave for the Mideast and Europe.

Eight candidates to be the bureau’s director were in line Saturday for the first interviews with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, at Justice Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Department headquarters. They are among more than a dozen candidates Trump is considering, a group that includes several lawmakers, attorneys and law enforcement officials.

“I think the process is going to go quickly. Almost all of them are very well-known,” Trump said aboard the plane that took him to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he gave the commencement address at Liberty University. “They’ve been vetted over their lifetime essentially, but very wellknown, highly respected, really talented people. And that’s what we want for the FBI.”

The Trump administration is looking to fill the The Associated Press job, which requires Senate confirmation, after Trump abruptly fired Director James Comey on Tuesday.

The first candidate to arrive was Alice Fisher, a high-ranking Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

Among those interviewed was Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond, Virginia, office.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe also interviewed for the permanent post despite his repeated willingness to break from White House explanations of Comey’s ouster and its characterizations of the Russia investigation.