In late October 2016, Comey announced that the investigation was being re-opened because of additional documents that had been obtained. Two weeks later he announced that no new information had been discovered and the investigation was again being closed.
After Comey's dismissal, FBI Deputy Director Andrew G. McCabe became the acting FBI Director. Several people were interviewed to succeed Comey. On June 7, 2017, on the day before Comey was to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump tweeted that he intended to nominate Christopher A. Wray as the new FBI Director.
"Reports Suggest Comey's Firing Could Be an Obstruction of Justice in Russia Investigation". Just Security. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017. ^ Savage, David G. (May 12, 2017). "Trump's statements linking Russia investigation to Comey firing could lead to legal problems".
On June 9, in response to Comey's testimony the day prior, before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Trump's personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz threatened to file legal complaints against Comey for sharing his memo with his friend, Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman, and the press.
Bush administration as Deputy Attorney General. He was appointed FBI Director by President Barack Obama. Comey was confirmed by the Senate in 2013 by a vote of 93–1.
Comey, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, objected strongly to Trump's description of the FBI as "in disarray" and "poorly led". "The administration chose to defame me, and more importantly the FBI," Comey said. "Those were lies, plain and simple.".
On May 8, 2017, Trump directed Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to provide advice and input in writing. On Trump's direction, on May 9, Rosenstein prepared and delivered a memorandum to Sessions relating to Comey (Sessions and Rosenstein had already begun considering whether to dismiss Comey months earlier). Rosenstein's memorandum said that the "reputation and credibility" of the FBI had been damaged under Comey's tenure, and the memo presented critical quotes from several former attorneys general in previously published op-eds; Rosenstein concluded that their "nearly unanimous opinions" were that Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation was "wrong." In his memo, Rosenstein asserted that the FBI must have "a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them." He ended with an argument against keeping Comey as FBI director, on the grounds that he was given an opportunity to "admit his errors" but that there is no hope that he will "implement the necessary corrective actions." Rosenstein also criticized Comey on two other grounds: for usurping the prerogative of the Justice Department and the Attorney General in his July 2016 public statements announcing the closure of the investigation into Clinton's emails, and for making derogatory comments about Clinton in that same meeting. Both of these actions, he argued, were in conflict with longstanding FBI practice. To Comey's previous defense that Attorney General Loretta Lynch had a conflict of interest, Rosenstein argued that in such a case, it is the duty of the Attorney General to recuse herself, and that there is a process for another Justice Department official to take over her duties.
The New York Times reported that Comey had created the memos as a "paper trail" to document "what he perceived as the president's improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation". Comey shared his notes with "a very small circle of people at the FBI and Justice Department ." Comey and other senior FBI officials perceived Trump's remarks "as an effort to influence the investigation, but they decided that they would try to keep the conversation secret—even from the F.B.I. agents working on the Russia investigation —so the details of the conversation would not affect the investigation."
On June 7, 2017, during an interview with MSNBC, House Speaker Paul Ryan stated that it's "obviously" inappropriate for the president to ask the FBI director for loyalty. According to sources, Comey's unwillingness to offer personal loyalty to Trump was one of the reasons for the firing.
Comey had been criticized in 2016 for his handling of the FBI 's investigation of the Hillary Clinton email controversy and in 2017 for the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections as it related to alleged collusion with Trump's presidential campaign.
Dismissal of James Comey. James Comey, the seventh Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 9, 2017. Comey had been criticized in 2016 for his handling of the FBI 's investigation of the Hillary Clinton email controversy and in 2017 for the FBI's investigation ...
Benjamin Arie is an independent journalist and writer. He has personally covered everything ranging from local crime to the U.S. president as a reporter in Michigan before focusing on national politics. Ben frequently travels to Latin America and has spent years living in Mexico.
“Mr. Clevenger said Mr. Comey’s testimony to Congress that he did not predetermine the outcome of the FBI’s probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is belied by revelations this week that he in fact started drafting an exoneration months before even speaking with Mrs. Clinton,” The Washington Times reported.