US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 9, unceremoniously fired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief James Comey from the post. This led to speculation that the probe agency was possibly getting too close to Trump's ties with Russia and how they could have helped the business tycoon-turned-politician win the 2016 US presidential election.
Comey had recently been blamed by Hillary Clinton as being one of the reasons behind her loss to Trump in the US presidential election. The other two sharing the blame were Russian hacking — of the Democratic National Convention that led to leaking of emails showing how her opponent Bernie Sanders was being sidelined — and WikiLeaks, which apparently helped spread the emails.
Official reason behind firing
Comey was in Los Angeles, addressing a group of FBI employees, when he first heard on TV that he had been fired. The recommendation came from Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, riding on an assessment prepared by his deputy Rod Rosenstein. The reason was made amply clear in Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein's memorandum: Comey was being fired for his "handling of the conclusion of the investigation" of Clinton's email saga.
Hillary Clinton had used a private email server for communication when she was US Secretary of State under then US president Barack Obama. She had been absolved of all charges of wrongdoing in the FBI investigation late last year, which must not have been to Trump's liking. After all, he had in one of the presidential debates threatened to jail her over the emails if he became president.
Shadow of Russian dealings
However, the actual reason behind Comey's firing could be the spectre of Russian ties that has been haunting Trump for quite some time. It was Comey himself who had confirmed that ties between the current US president and Russia were being probed to see if Moscow had helped Trump win the election.
Trump's letter to Comey informing the FBI director that he had been sacked said: "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."
The entire letter has no direct mention of the Clinton email scandal. Read the letter here:
White House fires James Comey by IBT Resource on Scribd
