Dismissal of James Comey

Letter from President Donald Trump dismissing FBI Director 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.^[1] 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.^[2]^[3]

Trump dismissed Comey by way of a termination letter in which he stated that he was acting on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.^[4]^[5]^[6] In the following days, he gave numerous explanations of the dismissal that contradicted his staff and also belied the initial impression that Sessions and Rosenstein had influenced his decision.^[7]^[8] Trump publicly stated that he had already decided to fire Comey;^[9] it later emerged that he had written his own early draft of the termination letter,^[10] and had solicited the Rosenstein memo the day before citing it.^[11] He also stated that dismissing Comey relieved unnecessary pressure on his ability to engage and negotiate with Russia, due to Comey's "grandstanding and politicizing" the investigation.^[12]^[13] Trump was reportedly "enormously frustrated" that Comey would not publicly confirm that the president was not personally under investigation.^[14] After his dismissal, Comey publicly testified to the Congress that he told Trump, on three occasions, that he was not personally under investigation in the counterintelligence probe.^[15]

Shortly after his termination, in a move that he hoped would prompt a special counsel investigation, Comey asked a friend to share excerpts from a memo he had written when he was FBI Director, recounting a private conversation with Trump in February 2017, with the press.^[16]^[17] According to Comey, Trump had asked him to "let go" of potential charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn whom Trump had fired the day before.^[18]^[19] In light of the dismissal, the series of memos, and Comey's testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017, several media figures, political opponents and legal scholars said that Trump's acts could be construed as obstruction of justice, while others disagreed.^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]

Following Comey's dismissal, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate into Russian meddling and related issues that Comey had supervised during his tenure.^[24] In December 2019, US Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in the "Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation" that the FBI showed no political bias by opening the investigation.^[25]^[26]^[27]

^ Kawa, Luke (May 9, 2017). "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
^ Collinson, Stephen (December 21, 2016). "Comey under fire again over Clinton emailsloy". CNN. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
^ Cite error: The named reference Helsel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Haberman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Reasons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Trump, Donald. "Comey Firing Letter" (PDF). Document Cloud. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
^ Ye Hee Lee, Michelle (May 12, 2017). "All of the White House's conflicting explanations for Comey's firing: A timeline". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017. The president then contradicted his staff's earlier comments. In a preview video clip of his interview with NBC News, Trump said he planned to fire Comey all along, regardless of Department of Justice recommendations.
^ Hafner, Josh (May 11, 2017). "OnPolitics Today: Trump contradicted himself on the Comey firing". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
^ Cite error: The named reference Liptak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference draft was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Rucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference NYT170519 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Barrett-Rucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Haberman, Maggie (June 24, 2017). "Trump suggests tweet on tapes was meant to affect Comey testimony". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017 – via Las Vegas Sun. Trump appeared to be referring to his statements over the months, which Comey confirmed in his testimony, that the then-FBI director had told the president that he was not under investigation. Trump, according to his advisers, had become enormously frustrated that Comey would not say so publicly.
^ Cite error: The named reference Politifact three times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Samantha Schmidt (April 20, 2018). "The Comey memos bolster his claim that he didn't leak classified information". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
^ Clare Foran & Eli Watkins (April 19, 2018). "Comey: 'I didn't have confidence' in deputy AG Rosenstein". CNN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018. Comey: 'I didn't have confidence' in deputy AG Rosenstein ... The former FBI director first described the process by which he attempted to prompt the appointment of a special counsel in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee last year. "The President tweeted on Friday after I got fired that I better hope there's not tapes ... I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday night because it didn't dawn on me originally, that there might be corroboration for our conversation. There might a tape. My judgment was, I need to get that out into the public square. I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. Didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons. I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. I asked a close friend to do it."
^ Cite error: The named reference Smith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Schmidt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Jan Wolfe (June 8, 2017). "Factbox: Did Comey's testimony support an obstruction of justice charge?". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Comey added fuel on Thursday to critics' accusations that the U.S. president engaged in obstruction of justice. ... Several legal experts said the conversation could be construed as an act of obstruction. ... Some legal experts said the president could say he was merely vouching for Flynn's character and voicing concerns about how the Russia probe was interfering with his ability to function in office.
^ Ryan Goodman (May 17, 2017). "Did Trump Obstruct Justice?". PoliticoMagazine. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ "Scholars debate Trump, Comey and obstructing justice". National Constitution Center. June 6, 2017. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ Matt Ford (May 16, 2017). "Did President Trump Obstruct Justice?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ Cite error: The named reference Levine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Read the full text: Justice Department watchdog report into origins of Russia probe". NBC News. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
^ "IG report: Bias didn't taint FBI leaders running Trump-Russia probe, …". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
^ "Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias". CNBC. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

[Bloomberg:_Five-1] Kawa, Luke (May 9, 2017). "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.

[2] Collinson, Stephen (December 21, 2016). "Comey under fire again over Clinton emailsloy". CNN. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.

[Helsel-3] Cite error: The named reference Helsel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Haberman-4] Cite error: The named reference Haberman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Reasons-5] Cite error: The named reference Reasons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] Trump, Donald. "Comey Firing Letter" (PDF). Document Cloud. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.

[YeHee-7] Ye Hee Lee, Michelle (May 12, 2017). "All of the White House's conflicting explanations for Comey's firing: A timeline". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017. The president then contradicted his staff's earlier comments. In a preview video clip of his interview with NBC News, Trump said he planned to fire Comey all along, regardless of Department of Justice recommendations.

[USATodayTrumpContradicted-8] Hafner, Josh (May 11, 2017). "OnPolitics Today: Trump contradicted himself on the Comey firing". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.

[Liptak-9] Cite error: The named reference Liptak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[draft-10] Cite error: The named reference draft was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Rucker-11] Cite error: The named reference Rucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NYT170519-12] Cite error: The named reference NYT170519 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Barrett-Rucker-13] Cite error: The named reference Barrett-Rucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[14] Haberman, Maggie (June 24, 2017). "Trump suggests tweet on tapes was meant to affect Comey testimony". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017 – via Las Vegas Sun. Trump appeared to be referring to his statements over the months, which Comey confirmed in his testimony, that the then-FBI director had told the president that he was not under investigation. Trump, according to his advisers, had become enormously frustrated that Comey would not say so publicly.

[Politifact_three_times-15] Cite error: The named reference Politifact three times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[16] Samantha Schmidt (April 20, 2018). "The Comey memos bolster his claim that he didn't leak classified information". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

[17] Clare Foran & Eli Watkins (April 19, 2018). "Comey: 'I didn't have confidence' in deputy AG Rosenstein". CNN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018. Comey: 'I didn't have confidence' in deputy AG Rosenstein ... The former FBI director first described the process by which he attempted to prompt the appointment of a special counsel in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee last year. "The President tweeted on Friday after I got fired that I better hope there's not tapes ... I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday night because it didn't dawn on me originally, that there might be corroboration for our conversation. There might a tape. My judgment was, I need to get that out into the public square. I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. Didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons. I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. I asked a close friend to do it."

[Smith-18] Cite error: The named reference Smith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Schmidt-19] Cite error: The named reference Schmidt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20] Jan Wolfe (June 8, 2017). "Factbox: Did Comey's testimony support an obstruction of justice charge?". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Comey added fuel on Thursday to critics' accusations that the U.S. president engaged in obstruction of justice. ... Several legal experts said the conversation could be construed as an act of obstruction. ... Some legal experts said the president could say he was merely vouching for Flynn's character and voicing concerns about how the Russia probe was interfering with his ability to function in office.

[21] Ryan Goodman (May 17, 2017). "Did Trump Obstruct Justice?". PoliticoMagazine. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[22] "Scholars debate Trump, Comey and obstructing justice". National Constitution Center. June 6, 2017. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[23] Matt Ford (May 16, 2017). "Did President Trump Obstruct Justice?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[Levine-24] Cite error: The named reference Levine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[horowitz1-25] "Read the full text: Justice Department watchdog report into origins of Russia probe". NBC News. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

[horowitz2-26] "IG report: Bias didn't taint FBI leaders running Trump-Russia probe, …". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

[horowitz3-27] "Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias". CNBC. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

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