The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 10 de mayo de 2017
But after Trump tweeted that, The New York Times revealed that Comey had asked the Justice Department, specifically the Deputy Attorney General, for more resources for the investigation of Trump's campaign and Russia.
From The New York Times article:
Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in resources for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, according to four congressional officials, including Senator Richard J. Durbin.
Mr. Comey made his appeal to Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who also wrote the Justice Department’s memo that was used to justify the firing of Mr. Comey this week, the officials said.
In other words, the real reason why Trump fired Comey was because Comey was serious about investigating the Russian-Trump connection in the 2016 election and Trump didn't like it.
That reeks of obstruction of justice. The last time a president fired the person in charge of investigating him was when Richard Nixon firedt the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and the special investigator in charge of the Watergate scandal.
Those firings, by the way, led to the appearance of "Deep Throat," the informant who leaked information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about the Watergate scandal that ended up with Nixon's resignation.
After the Comey request for expanding the Russia investigation was revealed by The New York Times, the White House contradicted itself on the reason why Comey was fired. In a press conferences, Deputy White House Press Secretary said, for example, that the it was the Deputy Attorney General the one who conducted a review on Comey and decided to recommend his firing. But the NYT fact-checked Sanders's claim and found no evidence of the Deputy Attorney General ever doing such review on an FBI director.
The Justice Department does not list a routine review of the F.B.I. — or any other oversight protocols — on its website detailing the duties of the deputy. Former prosecutors told The New York Times they were not aware of such reviews happening under other new deputy attorneys general.
Another lie from Trump and Sanders: Both claim the Democrats are hypocrites for complaining about Comey's firing when they asked for it after Comey's letter to Congress about the Clinton emails a few days before the 2016 election. That's actually false:
Democrats have certainly criticized Mr. Comey, but very few have called for his sacking.
Sanders also said Comey's testimony to Congress last week, in which he made a misinterpretation about "hundreds and thousands of emails" being forwarded by Huma Abedin to Anthony Weiner's laptop, was one of the reasons for his firing. The New York Times says not so:
Mr. Comey testified to Congress the morning of May 3, and remarked at about 12:45 p.m. that he had decided to speak directly to the news media about Mrs. Clinton’s emails in July after then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with former President Bill Clinton.
Mr. Spicer’s briefing did not begin until 2:25 p.m. that day. During the briefing, he said that the president still had confidence in Mr. Comey.
In other words, Trump didn't care about Comey's testimony on the Clinton emails. Which means the excuse for his firing is false. And it strongly suggests the real reason for Comey's firing was because of Comey asking for resources to expand the Russia investigation.
Trump, of course, kept lying about it with more tweets in the afternoon, like this one:
Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 10 de mayo de 2017
But the evidence shows the one who is being a hypocrite is Trump.
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