Sessions was told to find reasons to fire Comey: reports

by Jordan Fabian - 05/09/17 7:38 PM ET

President Trump’s decision Tuesday to fire FBI Director James Comey has been in the works since at least last week, according to multiple media reports.

Senior officials at the White House and Justice Department were working on building a case against Comey since that time, according to The New York Times. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked to come with reasons to oust him.

CNN reported the discussions were confined to the highest levels of the Trump administration.

{mosads}Shortly after Comey’s firing was announced, the White House circulated letters from Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, justifying the decision.

Rosenstein cited Comey’s handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, which Trump repeatedly promoted during the 2016 campaign.

The firing occurred weeks after Comey confirmed that the FBI is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in its efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton James Comey Jeff Sessions Rod Rosenstein