Donald Trump sensationally sacks FBI director James Comey over ‘false claim’ about Hillary Clinton emails – but he thought he was being PRANKED when news flashed up on TV
DONALD Trump has dramatically fired FBI director James Comey just hours after the Bureau was forced to issue a humiliating correction to statements Comey made under oath about Hillary Clinton's emails.
The White House said the shock move to “terminate” Comey, who had been leading the investigation into alleged ties between Trump's election campaign and Russia, was due to his handling of the Clinton email investigation.
But his shock dismissal — which he first thought was a PRANK — immediately led senior Democrats to claim an attempted cover-up over the supposed White House links to Moscow.
"We know the FBI had been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians – a very serious offence", Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said.
"Were these investigations getting too close to home for the President?" He added: "This does not seem a coincidence".
Trump hit back on Twitter: "Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, 'I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.' Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp".
Comparisons have been made to shamed ex-President Richard Nixon, who in 1973 disbanded a probe into the Watergate scandal.
Of the firing — only the second in the FBI's century-long history — Democrat Senator Bob Casey said: "This is Nixonian".
Comey, 56, was in Los Angeles talking to FBI agents when he saw news that he had been fired appear on TV.
He reportedly laughed, thinking it was a joke, before his staff took him aside and confirmed the news.
FBI sources told ABC News that he was then read his dismissal letter over the phone.
Comey's sacking was said to be in an effort to "restore public confidence" in the Bureau, which has been criticised by the Trump administration for failing to put a lid on leaks to the press.
Some rank-and-file agents were left in shock after their boss's unceremonious dismissal. “I’m literally in tears right now. That’s all I have to say", one told Politico magazine.
The White House said: “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 Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
The search for a new FBI director was to begin "immediately," the statement added.
Sessions had previously removed himself from involvement in the Russia investigation because of his own involvement in the Trump campaign.
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In the scathing letter, Trump said: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."
The decision comes just hours after the FBI corrected Comey’s sworn testimony to Congress that top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband's laptop, including some with classified information.
The agency said in reality only "a small number" of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there, while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices.
The statements came during an hours-long hearing in which Comey was slammed for public comments made during the election season.
These included his claim from July that Clinton and her aides had been "extremely careless" in their handling of secret information.
Trump had previously said that Comey "had guts" for re-opening the investigation into the emails shortly before the election, and that doing so "brought back his reputation."
But Comey has been a thorn in the President's side since his inauguration in January.
In March, he piled pressure on Trump to make a humiliating climbdown over his still unsupported claims that President Obama wiretapped his glitzy Trump Tower office.
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