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trump Fires FBI Director Comey

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President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey late Tuesday on the recommendation of the attorney general and his top aide, who cited the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email while secretary of state.

“Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office,” according to a White House statement. “President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”

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Nate Silver believes Clinton could've won if the FBI letter didn't come out

Nate Silver believes that Comey's letter hurt Clinton's chances to be President.

He tweeted

There's more evidence, too: Late-deciding voters broke strongly against Clinton in swing states, enough to cost her MI/WI/PA. pic.twitter.com/8r801ahDQO

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 11, 2016

Here's more

"I'll put it like this: Clinton would almost certainly be President-elect if the election had been held on Oct. 27 (day before Comey letter)," Silver tweeted.

Comey in October sent a letter to lawmakers about the discovery of new emails the FBI said were potentially relevant to the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State.

The emails were reportedly found during a separate FBI investigation into former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). Weiner is the estranged husband of one of Clinton's top aides, Huma Abedin.

Republicans and members of Donald Trump's campaign seized on the new information, attempting to cast Clinton as corrupt and praising the FBI for the development.

Then just days before the general election, Comey announced the FBI had not changed its July conclusion not to bring charges regarding Clinton's private server.

Since the election, Clinton campaign officials have put blame on Comey for the Democratic nominee's loss.

"There are lots of reasons why an election like this is not successful," Clinton told donors on a conference call one week after the election. "Our analysis is that Comey's letter raising doubts that were groundless, baseless, proven to be, stopped our momentum."

Former Federal Prosecutors sign Open Letter criticizing FBI Director James Comey

A group of former federal prosecutors signed an open letter criticizing FBI Director James Comey's pettiness.

Over the weekend, Comey dropped a cryptic bomb over new emails connected to Hillary Clinton. However, it seems to be nothing but a bad plot to tilt the election. .

Hillary Clinton’s campaign drafted up a letter and sent it out to former federal prosecutors.

Here's the letter

As former federal prosecutors and high-ranking officials of the U.S. Department of Justice, we know that the impartiality and nonpartisanship of the United States justice system makes it exceptional throughout the world. To maintain fairness and neutrality, federal law enforcement officials must exercise discipline whenever they make public statements in connection with an ongoing investigation. Often, evidence uncovered during the course of an investigative inquiry is incomplete, misleading or even incorrect, and releasing such information before all of the facts are known and tested in a court of law can unfairly prejudice individuals and undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of our legal process.

For this reason, Justice Department officials are instructed to refrain from commenting publicly on the existence, let alone the substance, of pending investigative matters, except in exceptional circumstances and with explicit approval from the Department of Justice officials responsible for ultimate supervision of the matter. They are also instructed to exercise heightened restraint near the time of a primary or general election because, as official guidance from the Department instructs, public comment on a pending investigative matter may affect the electoral process and create the appearance of political interference in the fair administration of justice.

It is out of our respect for such settled tenets of the United States Department of Justice that we are moved to express our concern with the recent letter issued by FBI Director James Comey to eight Congressional Committees. Many of us have worked with Director Comey; all of us respect him. But his unprecedented decision to publicly comment on evidence in what may be an ongoing inquiry just eleven days before a presidential election leaves us both astonished and perplexed. We cannot recall a prior instance where a senior Justice Department official—Republican or Democrat—has, on the eve of a major election, issued a public statement where the mere disclosure of information may impact the election’s outcome, yet the official acknowledges the information to be examined may not be significant or new.

Director Comey's letter is inconsistent with prevailing Department policy, and it breaks with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections. Moreover, setting aside whether Director Comey's original statements in July were warranted, by failing to responsibly supplement the public record with any substantive, explanatory information, his letter begs the question that further commentary was necessary. For example, the letter provides no details regarding the content, source or recipient of the material; whether the newly-discovered evidence contains any classified or confidential information; whether the information duplicates material previously reviewed by the FBI; or even “whether or not [the] material may be significant.”

Perhaps most troubling to us is the precedent set by this departure from the Department’s widely-respected, non-partisan traditions. The admonitions that warn officials against making public statements during election periods have helped to maintain the independence and integrity of both the Department’s important work and public confidence in the hardworking men and women who conduct themselves in a nonpartisan manner.

We believe that adherence to longstanding Justice Department guidelines is the best practice when considering public statements on investigative matters. We do not question Director Comey’s motives. However, the fact remains that the Director’s disclosure has invited considerable, uninformed public speculation about the significance of newly-discovered material just days before a national election. For this reason, we believe the American people deserve all the facts, and fairness dictates releasing information that provides a full and complete picture regarding the material at issue.

The letter is signed by nearly 100 former federal prosecutors including Eric Holder.

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Harry Reid comes for FBI Director Comey in this Letter