Attorney general recommended the firing of Comey, who has been at the center of numerous political controversies since the 2016 US election
Preet Bharara, the US attorney fired by Trump after refusing to step down, has spoken out:
EVERYONE who cares about independence & rule of law in America should be "troubled by the timing and reasoning" of Comey firing. Period. https://t.co/nAFX0OnuvH
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) May 10, 2017
Our world affairs editor Julian Borger has written an analysis of Comey’s termination, saying the move has taken US democracy “into dark and dangerous new territory”.
Here is his full take:
To borrow a joke from Twitter, you know things are bad when you get trolled by Nixon’s ghost ...
FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian pic.twitter.com/PatArKOZlk
— RichardNixonLibrary (@NixonLibrary) May 9, 2017
Meanwhile, Comey has his first job offer!
Mr. Comey knows where many bodies are buried. Working for WikiLeaks is fulfilling. James--don't become another lobbyist for Glock or Donkin.
— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) May 10, 2017
A bit of background on the relationship between the FBI and the White House in the weeks leading up to the firing of James Comey.
WaPo: WH has been pushing FBI to investigate leaks; FBI resisted calls to prioritize leak investigations over Russia https://t.co/gpiioJLaBn pic.twitter.com/hWVlQpk5IA
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 10, 2017
Here is more from CNN’s story on the subpoenas:
The subpoenas issued in recent weeks by the US Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, Virginia, were received by associates who worked with Flynn on contracts after he was forced out as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, according to the people familiar with the investigation.
Meanwhile, it seems the Russia investigation is not going away. This appears to be the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the inquiry.
BREAKING ON CNN: Grand jury subpoenas were recently issued relating to the FBI Russia probe seeking records from associates of Michael Flynn
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) May 10, 2017
Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in the middle of all this, on the Russia investigation: "It's time to move on" pic.twitter.com/aJYO0UljCv
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) May 10, 2017
Another example of Trump’s former admiration for Comey. In January the president singled the FBI director out for praise at a White House reception for law enforcement, exclaiming: “he’s become more famous than me.”
NYT reporting that initially Comey thought the whole thing was a practical joke.
When James Comey first learned he had been fired, he thought it was a fairly funny prank https://t.co/cy1VYUKHJZ pic.twitter.com/QWqd8qNf5i
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) May 10, 2017