By now, you are undoubtedly aware that President Trump unceremoniously fired FBI Director James Comey earlier this evening. This came as a shock to the nation, and especially to Comey himself, since he learned of his career’s demise after much of the general public knew. The details are especially brutal because Comey not only learned the news in front of a group full of his colleagues, but he also saw the alert flash across a television screen.
Are you ready for this story to get worse? Right, let’s do this. As it turns out (and via the New York Times), the head of the bureau was speaking in Los Angeles when he was first made aware of reports, and he initially believed that everyone was playing a highly amusing prank on him. Only that wasn’t the case, and damn, this is ice cold:
Mr. Comey was addressing a group of F.B.I. employees in Los Angeles when a television in the background flashed the news that he had been fired.
In response, Mr. Comey laughed, saying he thought it was a fairly funny prank.
Then his staff started scurrying around in the background and told Mr. Comey that he should step into a nearby office.
Brutal. Yet Comey acted like a pro and shook hands with audience members, at which point he went private and found out that Trump had truly canned him without preparing him for a public onslaught. It was only after Comey received this humiliating blow from the press that the White House bothered to send Trump’s breakup letter to the FBI’s headquarters in D.C.
Such a stunning lack of professional courtesy can only mean that Trump was incensed with the FBI director, possibly because of the whole Russia thing and also because Comey admitted to being “mildly nauseous” over suggestions that he helped Trump get elected. Until the Senate meets tomorrow morning — and it’s scheduled to happen around 9:30am EST — there’s plenty of analysis to be had. Not to mention eyerolls from The Coop, which present entertainment value as well. Well, tomorrow should be … fun?
(Via New York Times)