Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly told associates in March that President Trump was “crazy” for suggesting former President Obama had wiretapped him.
Comey also called the president “outside the realm of normal,” according to a report from The New York Times on Wednesday.
The Times said that, in return, Trump was furious when Comey publicly refused to back his claims that he was wiretapped during the 2016 campaign before the House Intelligence Committee in March.
{mosads}Comey said during the March 20 hearing that the FBI had “no information” supporting Trump’s allegations.
The Times report highlights lingering tensions between the president and Comey that led Trump to decide to fire the FBI chief on Tuesday, a decision that stunned Washington.
Trump reportedly became increasingly angered by Comey’s remarks in the weeks after the March hearing and began discussing his possible firing.
The president told aides there was “something wrong with” Comey Sunday, two days before his ultimate ouster.
Comey reportedly, though, told associates that he thought Trump was unlikely to fire him, believing his removal would make people revisit how he handled the probe into Hillary Clinton’s email server — in particular the announcement days before the election that they were reopening the investigation. Comey thought that treating his decisions as wrong would call into question Trump’s election victory.
Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, with the White House saying he acted on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who cited the Clinton probe.
Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday said Comey committed “atrocities” in his handling of the Clinton email probe.
Sanders said Comey sidestepped protocol and circumvented the chain of command with his decisions.
Democrats and some Republicans, though, have questioned the timing of Comey’s dismissal.
The former FBI director announced in March that the bureau was probing Russia’s intrusions in the 2016 race, including possible ties between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.