President Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, according to a statement from the White House press office:
“Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office. President Trump 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,” said President Trump.
A search for a new permanent FBI Director will begin immediately.”
Comey, 56, was nominated for the FBI position in 2013 by President Barack Obama.
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The firing comes after Comey told said in sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, sent “hundreds and thousands” of emails to her husband's laptop, some of which contained classified information.
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The FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that most of the emails with classified information were not because of the forwarded emails. It said only “a small number” of the emails were forwarded. Most of them had been backed up from other devices.
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In a letter to Comey, Trump said he was following the recommendation from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States that Comey be dismissed from his position.
“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,” Trump said in the letter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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