Officials in the White House and Department of Justice spent the last week building a case against former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired Tuesday by President Trump, The New York Times and CNN report.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was tasked with coming up with reasons to fire Comey, administration officials told the Times; White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed that Trump acted on the recommendation of Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The Times also reports that Comey learned he had been fired while giving a speech to FBI employees in Los Angeles; as he spoke, the breaking news alerts started to flash on televisions in the background. A letter was later delivered to FBI headquarters in Washington, reportedly by Trump's longtime bodyguard.