Donald Trump fires FBI Director James Comey

US President Trump's firing on Tuesday of the FBI director drew an immediate backlash

President Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the FBI, James B Comey, abruptly terminating the top official leading a criminal investigation into whether Trump’s advisors colluded with the Russian government to steer the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
 
The stunning development in Trump’s presidency raised the specter of political interference by a sitting president into an existing investigation by the nation’s leading law enforcement agency. It immediately ignited Democratic calls for a special counsel to lead the Russia inquiry.  Russia’s top diplomat met President Donald Trump on Wednesday and praised the U.S.
 
administration as problem solvers, just as the White House drew criticism over the firing of the FBI director who was leading a probe into Moscow’s alleged interference in U.S. politics.
 
The talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were the highest-level public contact between Trump and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Republican took office on January 20.
 
Trump explained the firing by citing Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, even though the president was widely seen to have benefited politically from that inquiry and had once praised Comey for his “guts” in his pursuit of Clinton during the campaign.
 
But in his letter to Comey, released to reporters by the White House, the president betrayed his focus on the continuing inquiry into Russia and his aides.
 
 “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,” Trump said in a letter to Comey dated Tuesday. White House officials refused to say anything more about the three occasions Trump cited.
 
The officials said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the deputy attorney general, Rod J Rosenstein, pushed for Comey’s dismissal. But many in Washington, including veteran FBI officers, saw a carefully choreographed effort by the president to create a pretense for a takedown of the president’s FBI tormentor.
 
“I cannot defend the director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails,” Rosenstein wrote in another letter that was released by the White House, “and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken.”
 
Reaction in Washington was swift and fierce. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said the firing could make Americans suspect a cover-up. Trump lashed back later Tuesday night in a Twitter post: “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, ‘I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.’ Then acts so indignant.”
 
Many Republicans assailed the president for making a rash decision that could have deep implications for their party. Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, said on Twitter that he now supports an independent commission to investigate the Russia links to Trump. He called Trump’s claim that Comey had cleared him three times “bizarre.”
 
“I’ve spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey’s firing,” Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said on Twitter. “I just can’t do it.”
 
In a sign of the FBI’s intense interest in Trump’s advisers, a grand jury in Virginia issued subpoenas in recent weeks for records related to the former White House national security adviser, Michael T Flynn, according to an American official familiar with the case. Flynn is under investigation for his financial ties to Russia and Turkey. Grand jury subpoenas are a routine part of federal investigations and are not a sign that charges are imminent. It was not clear that the subpoenas, which were first reported by CNN, were related to Comey’s firing.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

At the White House: Trump must search for a new FBI director. An announcement will not be made on Wednesday but is likely by the end of the week because Trump intends to fill the vacancy quickly

How Democrats and Republicans are spinning it

• Democrats quickly coalesced around a call for an independent prosecutor to take over the investigation into Russian meddling in the election, expressing distrust in the Justice Department.
• As Republican lawmakers learned of the firing on Tuesday night in scattershot fashion, no unified party message emerged. Some backed Trump and expressed support for a fresh start. Others were dubious.

The Senate investigation

• The Senate panel conducting its own investigation into Russian tampering in the election has faced mounting calls for an independent investigator that were, until now, largely partisan.
• Even before the firing, the panel had requested records from a number of Trump’s associates to analyse their connections to Russia. Officials familiar with the investigation have said that the committee is prepared to issue subpoenas to get the records.

At the FBI

• This is the first time that an FBI director has been fired since 1993, when President Bill Clinton dismissed William S Sessions, saying he could no longer “effectively lead the bureau.” Until Trump appoints a new director, the deputy director, Andrew G McCabe, will oversee the FBI, including the continuing Russia investigation.
• While the director is not usually involved in the day-to-day operations of the Russia investigation, whomever Trump selects as the next director will have the ability to influence the investigation by adding or pulling resources.