President Trump is alleged to have written a letter outlining his reasons for firing former FBI director James Comey. The letter, which was never sent, is reportedly now part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Kamm
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The letter written by US President Donald Trump in the days leading up to former FBI Director James Comey's dismissal was reportedly withheld at the behest of the president's lawyers.
According to The New York Times, that letter is now in the possession of special counsel Robert Mueller and his team, as they probe whether Trump fired Comey to impede an FBI investigation into ties between the president's campaign aides and Russian officials.
On May 9, the day of Comey's ousting, the White House released a letter signed by Deputy Attorney General Attorney Rod Rosenstein citing the FBI director's handling of the Hillary Clinton email case as justification the dismissal. Trump then said he had acted on the Justice Department's recommendation.
The sacking of James Comey: How it came about
President Donald Trump's move to fire FBI Director James Comey has set off shock waves in Washington. From the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails to Trump's alleged Russia ties, we look at how it all got to this point.
Image: Getty Images/A. Harrer
May - July 2016: FBI investigates Clinton emails
FBI Director James Comey announces in May that the bureau will open an investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for both her personal and government correspondence while secretary of state between 2009 and 2013. Two months later, Comey says that the FBI will not pursue criminal charges against Clinton, enraging Republican legislators.
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October 3, 2016: Congressman's laptop seized
US authorities seize former New York congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop and mobile devices as part of a probe into allegations he sent sexually explicit text messages to a 15-year-old. They go on to discover emails from Clinton and Huma Abedin, Weiner's wife and a close Clinton aid, on the devices.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/EPA/A. Kelly
October 7, 2016: White House accuses Russia of meddling
The Obama administration publically accuses Moscow of meddling in the 2016 presidential election after WikiLeaks publishes a trove of confidential emails from the Democratic National Convention. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security says it believes that "based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."
Image: picture-alliance/Sputnik/A. Druzhinin
October 28, 2016: FBI reopens Clinton probe
Just days before the presidential election, Comey announces the FBI is reopening its investigation into Clinton's email on the back of evidence found on Weiner's laptop. "It took a lot of guts... But I’ll tell you what he did, he brought back his reputation," Republican nominee Donald Trump says. On November 6, the FBI concludes it found nothing in the emails to alter its original decision.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Thew
November 9, 2016: President-elect Trump
Trump is elected President, defeating Clinton by winning 304 electoral college votes to her 227.
Image: Getty Images/S. Eisen
March 20, 2017: Trump - Russia links
Comey confirms that the FBI is investigating alleged ties between Trump's election campaign team and the Russian government. The FBI director also dismisses the president's tweets alleging that Obama ordered Trump Tower to be wiretapped during the election.
Image: Reuters/J. Roberts
May 2, 2017: Clinton opens up
In her most extensive remarks since the divisive presidential election, Clinton says that Comey's email probe announcement in October contributed to her election defeat. Trump, meanwhile, takes a different view, tweeting that Comey "gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/M. Altaffer
May 3, 2017: Comey defends pre-election decision
The very next day, Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee, defending his decision to reopen the investigation into Clinton's email just days before the election. He says it makes him "nauseous" to think he could have affected the election, but adds that Abedin had forwarded "hundreds and thousands of emails (to Weiner), some of which contain classified information."
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
May 9: FBI clarifies Comey statement
The Washington Post newspaper and ProPublica investigative journalism network reveal that the FBI was forced to clarify in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Comey had exaggerated about the number of emails Abedin forwarded.
Image: Reuters/B. Snyder
May 9, 2017: Comey fired
Trump, heeding advice from Department of Justice, fires Comey, informing him that he is "not able to effectively lead the bureau." In a memo, the White House says it "cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails," and does "not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken."
Image: Getty Images/A. Harrer
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Just days later the commander-in-chief admitted in the television interview that the "Russia thing" had had a bearing on his decision and that he would have fired Comey "regardless of recommendation."
According to reports citing White House sources, Trump had been fuming for weeks over Comey's refusal to publically state that he was not directly implicated in the FBI's investigation, something the president claimed he had been assured of several times in private. The newly uncovered letter is believed to reflect those sentiments from the president, as well as a host of further complaints against Comey.
The New York Times also revealed, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the situation, that in early May, Trump had asked White House aide Stephen Miller to draft letter outlining the rationale for ousting Comey. Miller has become a trusted adviser to the president since the campaign and has helped Trump draft his hardline immigration and travel ban policies.
The latest allegations came a day after the Senate Judiciary Committee released interview excerpts from their investigation into whether Comey had violated federal laws barring government officials from using their position to influence an election. The FBI director famously announced just days before the November election last year that the bureau was reopening its investigation into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's use of private email servers.
Trump flared up again following the release of the excerpts, posting on Twitter that Comey had exonerated Clinton months before the investigation had actually ended, ascribing it to a "rigged" political system.
The Senate Committee's probe into Comey was closed following his firing in May.
Comey documented the conversation because ‘Trump might lie’
