Last Tuesday, President Trump fired James Comey, the acting FBI Director. More surprising was the fact that Comey had been the man handling the investigation about whether Trump's team colluded with the Russian government in an effort to disrupt last year's presidential election.
Comey carries nonpartisan ideals and was often seen as an example of how a law enforcement officer should act and behave. However, Comey's reputation was tarnished when he was dragged into the realm of politics during the 2016 Presidential election.
The Trump administration stated that the official reason for Comey's dismissal was because of the way he was handling the investigation into Clinton's email server; a reasoning that had been ridiculed by the Democrats. The party retorted that Comey may be getting too close to the truth and that's the true reason behind his dismissal.
It seems that the officials in the White House had poorly predicted the impact of Comey's termination. According to the General Rod Rosenstein, a deputy general, the backlash should have been minimal as the grounds for Comey's firing were clearly presented.
However, critics fired back with a bigger question: Why fire Comey now? Especially when the FBI director is nearing his conclusion about the Russian probe investigation.
Comey was under fire for the way he had handled Clinton's private email investigation. A lot of Democrats think Comey's action, pertaining to the reopening of the probe 11 days before the election, may have been a factor in Hillary Clinton losing the bid for presidency.
And yet, Hillary Clinton is not happy about the loss of Comey. In fact, the former presidential candidate expressed concerns about Trump's sudden actions. Trump also tweeted about this issue, saying that it was the Democrats who suggested Comey's termination, and now are now playing the victim.
Adding insult to injury, Comey learned about being fired in a roundabout way. According to a report, Comey was in Los Angeles addressing the workforce in the FBI office when a background TV news report came out saying that the FBI director has been fired.
Roger Stone, a longtime and close ally of Trump, was the one who suggested Comey's dismissal. This was according to a news report by CNN. Yet according to sources, Stone was also being investigated by the FBI regarding the Russian government and election incident.
Trump reasoned that he had no recent contact with Stone and the decision to fire Comey had nothing to do with the political consultant. Trump also accused CNN as being “fake news” adding that the notion of Stone being the one who recommended Comey's firing was “bogus.”
After Trump's tweet, a White House spokesperson communicated to CNN and iterated the tweet. According to the spokesman, Trump has not spoken with Stone in several months. Any reports indicating otherwise were allegedly false.
Trump firing Comey left most people and politicians stunned. Officials and critics alike were outraged about the decision, and we may only be experiencing the initial backlash of the political world, with more outrage to follow.
