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Washington in turmoil as accusations fly over FBI boss sacking

James Comey reportedly asked to expand the Russian hacking probe days before being fired.

James Comey reportedly asked to expand the Russian hacking probe days before being fired. Photo: Getty

US politics is in turmoil as the White House scrambles to defend the abrupt sacking of FBI Director James Comey amid mounting accusations Donald Trump was attempting to curtail the investigation into Russian interference in the US election.

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a media conference Thursday morning (AEST) that President Trump had been thinking about firing Mr Comey since being elected to office.

Ms Sanders said the FBI director had committed “atrocities” in his investigation of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails during the election campaign.

The White House assertion came as The New York Times  and other US media reported that Mr Comey asked the Justice Department for more resources to expand the investigation into Russian interference in the US election and ties to the Trump’s campaign, just a week before being fired.

Mr Comey made an appeal to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to expand the investigation, the NYT quoted four congressional officials, including Democrats Senator Richard Durbin, as saying.

Mr Rosenstein was responsible for the Justice Department memo that was used to justify the firing of Mr Comey this week.

“I’m told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation and that a few days afterwards, he was sacked,” Mr Durbin is quoted as saying.

“I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this was an effort to slow down the investigation.”

Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Flores denied Mr Comey asked Mr Rosenstein for more resources and called reports to the contrary “100 per cent false”. 

Democratic Senator Mark Warner told CNN on Wednesday he has asked Mr Comey to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed session. Mr Comey is not compelled to appear.

Reaction in Washington to Mr Comey’s dismissal Wednesday was ferocious and bipartisan.

Democrats denounced the move, likening it to the “Saturday Night Massacre” of 1973 in which President Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

“Today’s action by President Trump completely obliterates any semblance of an independent investigation into Russian efforts to influence our election, and places our nation on the verge of a constitutional crisis,” said Representative John Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

‘Phoney hypocrites’

President Trump has largely used Twitter to defend his decision to dismiss Mr Comey in the face of bipartisan condemnation and comparisons to disgraced former President Richard Nixon and the infamous Watergate scandal.

“Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me,” the President tweeted.

The Trump administration maintains Mr Comey’s firing was over the FBI chief’s handling of an election-year FBI probe into then-Democratic presidential nominee Mrs Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

Asked if Mr Trump had fired Mr Comey over his handling of the Russia investigation, Ms Sanders said “no”.

“The President has lost confidence in Director Comey and, frankly, he’d been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected,” Ms Sanders told reporters, adding that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein had raised concerns about the former FBI chief on Monday, prompting Trump to ask him to put his recommendation in writing.

Claims that President Trump had lacked confidence in Mr Comey come despite the White House previously expressing confidence in the former FBI chief several times.

Ms Sanders pointed to a “big catalyst” from last week’s congressional testimony by the former FBI chief when he related how he held a news conference without notifying his superiors last year.

During his appearance, Mr Comey announced that Hillary Clinton would not face charges over her email server but heavily criticised her handling of classified material.

“Director Comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice by going around the chain of command,” Ms Sanders said.

“That is simply not allowed.” she said.

Russian meeting

The political drama played out as President Trump met Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office.

Mr Trump said his highest-level public contact with government of Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office was “very, very good”.

Asked by a reporter before the meeting if Mr Comey’s firing would cast a shadow over his talks, Mr Lavrov replied in a sarcastic tone: “Was he fired? You’re kidding. You’re kidding.”

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