When Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday evening, the stated reason in the letter submitted by the deputy Attorney General was Comey’s much-criticized handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state.
As we reported last night, pretty much no one within the FBI had the slightest idea that Comey's firing was coming. Even Comey himself, according to the New York Times, learned of his dismissal on the news and thought it was just a prank.
It was a return to the old, familiar routine on Wednesday morning, when President Trump went after Democrats on Twitter for their reaction to his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.
"The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!" the president tweeted Wednesday.
The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!
Despite comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer that:
The initially amicable, then increasingly more controversial, contentious and, finally, rancorous relationship between President Donald Trump and FBI Director James Comey has just concluded with the utterance of two of Trump's favorite words: 'You're fired."
According to a statement issued by the White House, the firing of Comey comes at the recommendation of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Below is the full statement from the White House: