The real meaning behind shocking letter to FBI boss
WHEN a news report that he had been fired flashed on television screens as he gave a talk to FBI agents, James Comey laughed it off as a prank.
But as phones began to light up among the audience in Los Angeles, aides led Mr Comey to a side room. Keith Schiller, President Donald Trump’s long-time bodyguard, had been to Mr Comey’s office at the agency’s headquarters and delivered a manila envelope that contained the bombshell: “You are hereby terminated and removed from office.”
But the details behind Mr Trump’s letter tell a different story about why he removed America’s most senior criminal investigator. Below are extracts from the US president’s letter, with our annotations.
Dear Director Comey,
FBI Director James Comey had been leading an investigation into Mr Trump’s links to Russia, which is suspected of interfering in the US election. Also noteworthy for his 11th hour decision to reopen a probe into the Hillary Clinton email scandal, which is credited with helping Mr Trump win the election.
I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The US Attorney General is none other than Jeff Sessions, who had to step down from the Russia investigation over a potential conflict of interest.
It recently emerged he had two meetings with Sergey I. Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the US.
The letter of recommendation from Mr Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein does not mention Russia. Instead, it says Mr Comey should go because his claim that Mrs Clinton sent hundreds of thousands of sensitive emails from her husband’s laptop misled the Senate.
In fact it has emerged she only sent a handful of emails.
In other words, the order to fire the head of the Russia investigation came from a US official who is himself under scrutiny for having links to Russia.
I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
Mr Trump has the constitutional power to fire Mr Comey, but there is no escaping the fact that with this decision he has removed the person who is investigating him and his allies.
While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.
The Attorney General’s letter recommended that Mr Comey should be fired over the Mrs Clinton email scandal, but in this line Mr Trump refers directly to the Russia investigation.
He takes pains to point out that he is not personally under investigation, betraying the fact the Russia probe is what’s really at the forefront of his mind.
It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.
The decision to sack Mr Comey has already caused uproar among Democrats, with some comparing Mr Trump to Richard Nixon.
Mr Nixon infamously fired prosecutors investigating him over Watergate, in what came to be known as the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’.
Senior Democrats are now calling for an independent investigation into Moscow’s role in the election. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.
Donald J. Trump