Ousted: Move comes amid investigation of campaign-Russia ties

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, dramatically ousting one of the nation’s top law enforcement officials in the midst of an FBI investigation into whether Trump’s campaign had ties to Russia’s meddling in the election that sent him to the White House.

In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore “public trust and confidence” in the FBI. Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his public comments on an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s email practices, including a pair of letters he sent

to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last year’s campaign.

Trump made no mention of Comey’s role in the Clinton investigation, which she has blamed in part for the election result. But in announcing the firing, the White House circulated a scathing memo, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Comey’s handling of the Clinton probe, including the director’s decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing “derogatory information” about Clinton.

Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the bureau’s Trump-Russia probe, Rosenstein has been in charge.

This is only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.

Comey was speaking to agents at the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles when the news of his firing flashed on TV screens, according to a law enforcement official who was there. Comey initially chuckled, then finished his speech, said the official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

Comey later left on a plane to return to Washington.

Trump will now appoint Comey’s successor. The White House said the search for a replacement was beginning immediately. Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, takes over in the interim.

Trump has ridiculed the investigations into Russiacampaign ties as a “hoax” and has denied that his campaign was involved in Russia’s meddling. In his letter to Comey, he asserted that the FBI director had informed him “on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation.”

Tuesday’s stunning announcement came shortly after the FBI corrected aspects of Comey’s sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week. Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent “hundreds and thousands” of emails to her husband’s laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI told the Senate Judiciary Committee that only “a small number” of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

Comey, 56, was nominated by President Barack Obama for the FBI post in 2013 to a 10-year term, though that appointment does not ensure a director will serve the full term.

Praised frequently by both parties for his independence and integrity, Comey has spent three decades in law enforcement.

But his prominent role in the 2016 presidential campaign raised questions about his judgment and impartiality. Though the FBI did not recommend charges against Clinton for mishandling classified information, Comey was blisteringly critical of her decision to use a personal email account and private internet server during her four years as secretary of state.

Comey strongly defended his decisions during the hearing last week. He said he was “mildly nauseous” at the thought of having swayed the election but also said he would do the same again.

Clinton has partially blamed her loss on Comey’s disclosure to Congress less than two weeks before election day that the email investigation would be revisited. Comey later said the FBI, again, had found no reason to bring any charges.

Trump disagreed with Clinton’s assessment, tweeting that Comey actually “was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!”

Clinton’s advisers were stunned by Trump’s decision Tuesday. Former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that while he believed Comey had “inflicted severe damage” on the FBI, “the timing and manner of this firing suggest that it is the product of Donald Trump feeling the heat on the ongoing Russia investigation and not a well thought out response to the inappropriate handling of the Clinton investigation.”