![\"comey\"](\"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/comey-300x169.jpg\")
International desk: President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI director James Comey, ousting the man heading a wide-ranging investigation into whether his aides colluded with Russia to sway last year\u2019s US election.<\/p>\nInternational desk: President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI director James Comey, ousting the man heading a wide-ranging investigation into whether his aides colluded with Russia to sway last year\u2019s US election.<\/p>\n
In a shock move that drew comparisons to the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, Trump told Comey the FBI needed new leadership and he was being \u2018terminated\u2019 with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
Under Comey\u2019s leadership, the FBI concluded that President Vladimir Putin approved a wide-ranging campaign to tilt the vote in Trump\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n
His snap dismissal, ostensibly for mishandling a probe into Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails, sparked rare criticism from Republicans and allegations of a cover-up from seething Democrats who demanded an independent inquiry.<\/p>\n
The high-stakes gambit also raised immediate comparisons to the ill-fated firings that sped the collapse of Nixon\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s decision to fire the FBI director is virtually unprecedented, only one director has previously been fired in the bureau\u2019s century-long history.<\/p>\n
In a letter circulated by the White House, Trump told Comey: \u2018You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Troubled\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump also used the letter to try to distance himself from the ever-deepening scandal over Russia\u2019s involvement in the election.<\/p>\n \u2018I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation,\u2019 Trump wrote.<\/p>\n The White House said the search for a new FBI director was to begin right away.<\/p>\n FBI directors are appointed for a single 10-year term. The 56-year-old Comey, who is popular among rank-and-file agents, was appointed four years ago.<\/p>\n The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Trump had made a \u2018big mistake.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018This does not seem a coincidence,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n Unless the administration appoints an independent special prosecutor to probe the Russian meddling, Schumer added, \u2018every American will rightly suspect that the decision to fire director Comey was part of a cover-up.\u2019<\/p>\n Republicans, many of whom have fallen into line behind Trump after initial reluctance, also sought to distance themselves from the president.<\/p>\n \u2018I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey\u2019s termination,\u2019 said Senator Richard Burr.<\/p>\n Congressman Justin Amash, a fellow Republican, described parts of Trump\u2019s letter to Comey as \u2018bizarre\u2019 and announced \u2018my staff and I are reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia.\u2019<\/p>\n Comey played an outsized\u2014and controversial\u2014role on the American political stage over the past year, lobbing one bombshell after another that rankled both parties in Washington.<\/p>\n The stated reason for his dismissal\u2014according to a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein\u2014was for mishandling the probe into Clinton\u2019s emails, which the Democrat blames for trashing her chances of becoming president.<\/p>\n Comey told lawmakers last week he felt \u2018mildly nauseous\u2019 at the thought that he had swayed the election\u2014but could not have acted any other way.<\/p>\n \u2018Nothing less than Nixonian\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the start of Trump\u2019s presidency, the FBI chief had increasingly appeared to be a thorn in the president\u2019s side.<\/p>\n He recently confirmed the agency was investigating Russian interference in last year\u2019s presidential election and notably Moscow\u2019s possible collusion with Trump\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n Democrats\u2014already angry that Congressional inquiries into Russian meddling have been hamstrung by Republicans\u2019 willingness to defend Trump\u2014voiced sharp concerns that the FBI\u2019s investigation may now be in jeopardy too, with several calling for an independent commission to take over the probe.<\/p>\n \u2018This is nothing less than Nixonian,\u2019 charged Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who called Trump\u2019s official justification for firing Comey \u2018absurd.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018That fig leaf explanation seeks to cover the undeniable truth: The president has removed the sitting FBI director in the midst of one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country\u2014one that implicates senior officials in the Trump campaign and administration,\u2019 he charged.<\/p>\n When Trump initially decided to keep Comey\u2014a Barack Obama appointee\u2014in his job, it raised eyebrows from critics who saw it as a tacit reward for his role in damaging Clinton\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n But within months, the FBI chief was back in the national spotlight\u2014this time taking aim at Trump.<\/p>\n During testimony to Congress last month, Comey overtly challenged the president, flatly rejecting his explosive claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor.<\/p>\n And despite Trump\u2019s dismissal of suggestions his team colluded with Moscow as \u2018fake news,\u2019 it had become increasingly clear that Comey had set his sights on the issue of Russia\u2019s election meddling, which has stalked Trump\u2019s presidency from the start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International desk: President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI director James Comey, ousting the man heading a wide-ranging investigation into whether his aides colluded with Russia to sway last year\u2019s US election. In a shock move that drew comparisons to the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, Trump told Comey the FBI needed new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n