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A Redditor known as /u/Soros_Bucks_or_Bust suggested a hypothetical in a political discussion about President Donald Trump in which FBI Director James Comey gets fired. Comey was fired less than an hour later. In a Reddit thread discussing this CNN article about Senate Russia investigators requesting any information related to President Donald Trump from the Treasury Department’s criminal investigation division, /u/Soros_Bucks_or_Bust asked:
Republicans really can’t stop the FBI investigation. Unless they try to fire Comey, at which point I imagine a lot of evidence would be entered into the congressional record via obscure committee hearings.
The hypothetical was posted around 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9. Shortly thereafter, Trump publicly released this letter addressed to Comey:
Dear Director Comey,
I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
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.
It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.
I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Donald J. Trump
White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced that Comey had been fired over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails during the presidential campaign. However, the New York Times writes, “Separately, the F.B.I. also is investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election.”
The abrupt dismissal of Comey has raised the question as to who will take the leadership of an ongoing counterintelligence investigation about Trump’s controversial election. The investigation is determining whether associates of Trump may have been aided by Russia to sway the outcome of the presidential election against the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The dismissal was effective immediately. According to the Washington Post, “Comey was fired because senior Justice Department officials concluded he had violated Justice Department principles and procedures by publicly discussing the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of private email.”
This morning, Trump is preparing to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
