FBI director James Comey has been fired by Donald Trump, who said in a letter that he was being “terminated and removed” because he was “not able to effectively lead the bureau”.
The sacking came after attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein recommended to Trump that he be removed over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
However, critics believe the dismissal is more closely linked to Comey’s role in investigating Trump’s allies over alleged links to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Comey reportedly found out he had been fired while speaking to FBI employees in Los Angeles and initially thought it was a prank.
The controversial move has been condemned by Democrats, many of whom said the sacking was “Nixonian” and some high profile Republicans including Trump supporters.
Justin Amash, a Republican congressman from Michigan said he was reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia in the wake of the news.
Richard Burr, a Republican leading the Senate intelligence committee investigation into Russia’s influence over the 2016 presidential election, said he was “troubled by the timing and reasoning” of the decision.
Chuck Schumer, Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said he told Trump he was “making a very big mistake.”
Meanwhile, a CNN report claims that a grand jury has been convened and has started issuing subpoenas relating to the FBI’s Russia probe. The development, if confirmed suggests the investigation has entered a new phase.
The decision to fire Comey has caused the dollar to slip on foreign exchange markets overnight. The dollar index, which investors use to track the greenback against six other currencies, dropped 0.2%.
Trump himself has only commented once since the story broke, using his personal and presidential Twitter accounts to attack Chuck Schumer’s stance on Comey.
The president is due to meet Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House on Wednesday.
It is not known who will replace Comey. Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe has been made acting director until a new bureau head is selected. Rudy Guiliani, spotted at Trump’s hotel in DC on Tuesday night, has said he is not in the running.
The Associated Press has written about what happens now to the FBI’s probe into links between Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Moscow.
President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey throws a cloud of doubt over the bureau’s investigation into allegations of Trump campaign ties to Russia.
The FBI and three congressional committees have been investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump connections. As head of the FBI, Comey had been leading the complex counterintelligence investigation that has dogged the Trump White House since Inauguration Day.
The White House said Tuesday its search for a new FBI director had already begun. And the person Trump appoints will likely have a huge impact on how the investigation moves forward and whether the public will accept its outcome. But given concerns by members of Congress in both parties over Comey’s dismissal, it’s unlikely a permanent director will be in place soon.
A new director chosen by Trump could decide to drop the FBI investigation altogether, or not pursue it as aggressively as Comey has. He or she could also decide not to fully cooperate with the congressional investigations, which rely on information from the FBI.
Timothy Flanigan, a former assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, said, “It does seem to me, however, that, if investigations are underway, they will likely continue.” He said acting FBI directors have limited abilities to derail an ongoing investigation.
NBC has a profile of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, who has been promoted to acting director in the wake of Comey’s dismissal. The piece describes McCabe as a “respected and a fast-rising member of the bureau” with a background in counter-terrorism.
The American Council for Civil Liberties has put out a statement on Comey’s sacking. Executive director Anthony Romero says:
The independence of the FBI director is meant to ensure that the president does not operate above the law. For President Trump to fire the man responsible for investigating his own campaign’s ties to the Russians imperils that fundamental principle. Regardless of how one judges the performance of James Comey in either the Hillary Clinton or Russia investigations, President Trump’s dismissal of a sitting FBI director raises serious alarm bells for our system of checks and balances. The terms of FBI directors were purposefully structured to span across sitting presidents to ensure the FBI’s independence and insulate the bureau from partisan politics. President Trump’s dismissal of Comey raises questions about the administration’s inappropriate meddling in bureau operations — precisely at a time when the bureau appears to be investigating the president, his advisors, and his campaign for potential collusion with Russian agents in our last election.”
At a time like this, it is important to express things plainly. On Tuesday evening, Donald Trump acted like a despot. Without warning or provocation, he summarily fired the independent-minded director of the F.B.I., James Comey. Comey had been overseeing an investigation into whether there was any collusion between Trump’s Presidential campaign and the government of Russia. With Comey out of the way, Trump can now pick his own man (or woman) to run the Bureau, and this person will have the authority to close down that investigation. That is what has happened. It amounts to a premeditated and terrifying attack on the American system of government. Quite possibly, it will usher in a constitutional crisis. Even if it doesn’t, it represents the most unnerving turn yet in what is a uniquely unnerving Presidency.
FBI director James Comey has been fired by Donald Trump, who said in a letter that he was being “terminated and removed” because he was “not able to effectively lead the bureau”.
The sacking came after attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein recommended to Trump that he be removed over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
However, critics believe the dismissal is more closely linked to Comey’s role in investigating Trump’s allies over alleged links to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Comey reportedly found out he had been fired while speaking to FBI employees in Los Angeles and initially thought it was a prank.
The controversial move has been condemned by Democrats, many of whom said the sacking was “Nixonian” and some high profile Republicans including Trump supporters.
Justin Amash, a Republican congressman from Michigan said he was reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia in the wake of the news.
Richard Burr, a Republican leading the Senate intelligence committee investigation into Russia’s influence over the 2016 presidential election, said he was “troubled by the timing and reasoning” of the decision.
Chuck Schumer, Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said he told Trump he was “making a very big mistake.”
Meanwhile, a CNN report claims that a grand jury has been convened and has started issuing subpoenas relating to the FBI’s Russia probe. The development, if confirmed suggests the investigation has entered a new phase.
The decision to fire Comey has caused the dollar to slip on foreign exchange markets overnight. The dollar index, which investors use to track the greenback against six other currencies, dropped 0.2%.
Trump himself has only commented once since the story broke, using his personal and presidential Twitter accounts to attack Chuck Schumer’s stance on Comey.
The president is due to meet Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House on Wednesday.
It is not known who will replace Comey. Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe has been made acting director until a new bureau head is selected. Rudy Guiliani, spotted at Trump’s hotel in DC on Tuesday night, has said he is not in the running.
