Trump to FBI Director James Comey: You're Fired

BY MELANIE HUNTER ARTER  /  FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS

The White House announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, saying that the president “acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”

“The FBI 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,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer  said in a statement.

Spicer did not mention the firing at the White House press briefing Tuesday, which started later than usual. Spicer said he had some “business” to attend to but did not give specifics.

Comey’s firing appears to come as a surprise to many.

Just last week, Spicer said, “The president has confidence in the director.”

In a letter to Comey on Tuesday, Trump said he received letters from the attorney general and deputy attorney general recommending that Comey be fired, and the president has accepted their recommendation.

“I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately,” Trump 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 president said.

“It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors,” he added.

The search begins immediately for Comey’s replacement.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that “this was a difficult decision for all concerned.”

“I appreciate Director Comey’s service to our nation in a variety of roles,” Graham said in a statement.

“Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well. I encourage the President to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nation’s interests,” Graham added.

“President Trump called me at 5:30 p.m. and indicated he would be removing Director Comey, saying the FBI needed a change. The next FBI director must be strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News, “It seems to me that this may have been the inevitable conclusion of Director Comey’s decision last July to go public with the reasons that he had decided not to recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton. 

“I think that he is a very well intentioned individual, but that decision to bypass the normal rules of the Justice Department, which he could have granted the deputy attorney general, since he felt understandably that Attorney General Lynch was compromised by her decision to talk with Bill Clinton, but that decision to bypass the normal policies of the Department of Justice was probably the reason that he got embroiled in these political controversies that continue to dog him to this very day,” Collins said.

When asked why didn’t the president make the decision to fire Comey soon after the inauguration instead of the first week of May, Collins said, ” Because the Justice Department was really understaffed for a long time.

“It took awhile for the attorney general to be confirmed. His deputy was just confirmed I believe a week or so ago. It was the deputy who was a career prosecutor, who had been designated to do the analysis of the FBI director’s actions and came up with the recommendation,” she said.

Collins disputed the notion that Democrats have that Comey’s firing seems “Nixonian.” She said the president didn’t fire the entire FBI – he fired the director.

“Any suggestion that this is somehow going to stop the FBI’s investigation of the attempts by the Russians to influence the elections last fall is really patently absurd,” Collins said. “This is just one person. It’s the director. The investigation is going forward – both at the FBI and in the Senate Intelligence Committee in a bipartisan way, so I don’t think there’s any link at all.”

Courtesy of CNSNews.com     

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Melanie has been with CNSNews.com since November 2000 as an evening editor responsible for writing, editing and posting stories to the website. She was promoted to deputy managing editor in 2002, overseeing the radio production department in addition to her daily editing duties. Prior to working at CNSNews.com, Melanie served as news director for WKYS-FM, one of Washington, D.C.’s top-rated radio stations. Ms. Hunter also worked as a traffic reporter for Shadow Broadcasting in the nation’s capital and prior to that, as a news anchor/reporter for WAMO-FM in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her television experience was obtained at several Washington, D.C. stations. She worked for America’s Most Wanted at Fox affiliate WTTG, the Creative Services Department of WUSA-TV and the Evening Exchange on WHUT-TV. She holds a bachelor’s degree in television production from Howard University.