President Trump Fires FBI Director Comey

Published May 10, 2017 at 9:00 AM CDT

The termination letter from President Donald Trump to FBI Director James Comey is photographed in Washington (Jon Elswick/AP)

President Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey. We’ll look at the news from all angles.

FBI director James Comey is out. Fired by President Trump. The President whose team Comey was investigating for, it is feared, colluding with Russia to turn the American election. Trump says he fired Comey for how he handled the Clinton email case. He could have done that January 20 ^th. So why now? Will a Trump-nominated successor push for the truth? Do we have a constitutional crisis here? A purge? This hour On Point, the stunning firing of FBI director James Comey. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Aruna Viswanatha, reporter covering the U.S. Justice Department for The Wall Street Journal. ( @aviswanatha)

Margaret Talev, senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg News. ( @margarettalev)

Howard Fineman, global editorial director for the HuffPost. ( @howardfineman)

Michael Tabman, retired special agent in charge for the FBI.

Kyle Wingfield, columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ( @kwingfieldajc)

From Tom’s Reading List

New York Times: F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump — “President Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, abruptly terminating the leader of a wide-ranging criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s advisers colluded with the Russian government to steer the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.”

The Wall Street Journal: Rod Rosenstein, Who Is in Charge of the Russia Probe, Helped Fire Comey — “President Donald Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: On President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey — “In a less polarized time, Comey’s firing might be seen by all sides as a necessary, if somewhat unfortunate, reset after his regrettable series of actions and statements. (Indeed, it’s easy to imagine Clinton, had she been elected, relieving him of his duties — and being criticized by the right for doing so out of spite. Or maybe keeping him — and being criticized for rewarding him for not prosecuting her.) I rather doubt that’s what we’ll get here.”