In a letter to friends and agents sent Wednesday, former FBI Director James Comey wrote that he has "long believed" a president can fire the FBI director "for any reason, or for no reason at all," and that's why he won't "spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either."
Comey found out he was no longer the director of the FBI while addressing bureau employees in Los Angeles on Tuesday; he saw the news break on a television in the back of the room, and originally thought it was a joke. He said his hope is that the agents will "continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution," and reminded them of something he told them before: "In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence. What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A speaker courageous enough to stand up to the extremists in his own party'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
-
Today's political cartoons - April 18, 2024Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - impeachment Peanuts, record-breaking temperatures, and more
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in MoroccoSpeed Read
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female presidentSpeed Read
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. saysSpeed Read
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprisingSpeed Read
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
