In goodbye letter, Comey says he won't dwell on the way he was fired

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."

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