Trump fired James Comey as FBI Director in a letter thanking Comey for telling him he was not being investigated on three occasions. Following the news, statements from the Trump administration were incohesive and contradictory. Trump claims that he was advised by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Comey. Trump’s decision had bipartisan pushback and in a TV interview, Trump admitted that he was going to fire Comey anyways, no matter what they advised. He initially claimed it was because of his poor performance, also revealed he had decided the Russian probe was a “fake news” story. The White House stated Comey was fired for his involvement in the Hillary Clinton investigation and 2016 election. By the next day, Trump was back to blaming Comey’s fire on Rosenstein’s letter. On May 12, Trump defended the inconsistencies of his surrogates because “lots of things [are] happening.”
As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017