“Rosenstein cited several former Justice Department officials’ comments criticizing Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation, including his public statements.Trump, in his letter to Comey, 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 Republican president said he fired Comey, the top US law enforcement official, over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. United States, District of Columbia, Washington.”There has to be another reason, and I can think of only two possibilities.Other current and former US intelligence and law enforcement officials questioned the White House explanation for Comeys firing. Yellow zinc carbon steel thread rod Donald Trump told Comey in the letter that he accepted the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he could no longer provide effective leadership.The move raised suspicions among Democrats and others that the White House was trying to blunt the FBI probe involving Russia. 8 election – that he had reopened the investigation because of a discovery of a new trove of Clinton-related emails.Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, was later fired by Trump after she declined to defend his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, a policy that Trump said would help protect Americans from Islamist militants. As recently as Tuesday, the FBI clarified remarks that Comey made on the matter last week.
Trump had originally criticized the FBI director for not pursuing criminal charges against Clinton last July, but later lavished praise on him.Senator Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is overseeing its own investigation into Russian interference during the election, said in a statement he was troubled by the timing of Comeys termination.The White House released a memo in which Rosenstein wrote: “I cannot defend the Directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken.Sessions advised Trumps campaign before being picked by the president to lead the Justice Department. “I think he realized the extent of the Russia investigation under way and moved him out.The firing came as a shock to FBI staff, nearly all of whom had confidence in Comey despite the controversy surrounding his handling of the Clinton email situation, according to an FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity.Some Democrats compared Trumps move to the “Saturday Night Massacre” of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.Pushing back against critics of the move, White House officials said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a career prosecutor who took office on April 25, assessed the situation at the FBI and concluded that Comey had lost his confidence. US President Donald Trump ignited a political firestorm on Tuesday by firing FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaigns possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome.
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