Midway into an FBI investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, President Trump fired FBI director James Comey, reports the New York Times. The White House claimed cause for concern over Comey's handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails in 2016.
According to the New York Times,
Memos released by the White House show that Rod J. Rosenstein, the newly sworn-in deputy attorney general, that recommended Mr. Comey be fired over how he disclosed the investigation into Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Comey broke with longstanding tradition and policies by discussing the case and chastising the Democratic presidential nominee’s “careless” handling of classified information. Then, in the campaign’s final days, Mr. Comey announced that the F.B.I. was reopening the case, a move that earned him widespread criticism.
“The F.B.I. is one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement,” Mr. Trump said in the statement.
The Times notes that previous to the events of 2016, Comey had enjoyed widespread bipartisan support.
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