James Comey sends farewell letter to agents, friends

Former FBI Director James Comey walks at his home in McLean, Va., Wednesday, May 10, 2017. President Donald Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, ousting the nation's top law enforcement official in the midst of an investigation into whether Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's election meddling. (AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)

Credit: Sait Serkan Gurbuz

Credit: Sait Serkan Gurbuz

Former FBI Director James Comey walks at his home in McLean, Va., Wednesday, May 10, 2017. President Donald Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, ousting the nation's top law enforcement official in the midst of an investigation into whether Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's election meddling. (AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)

Former FBI Director James Comey sent a farewell letter to the people he worked with at the FBI, a day after he was fired from his job by President Donald Trump.

Comey said in the letter that he had “long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason.”

He added that he would not dwell on how he was fired and that they should not either.

Here is the letter:

To all:

I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.

I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence. What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America.

It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing. My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

If you do that, you too will be sad when you leave, and the American people will be safer.

Working with you has been one of the great joys of my life. Thank you for that gift.

Jim Comey