The White House went on the attack against fired FBI Director James B. Comey Wednesday, saying “most of America” had lost confidence in him and that President Trump had been considering firing him since his election.
“Frankly, he had been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected,” said White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders.
She said that since taking officer there also had been an “erosion of confidence.”
“Most of America had decided own their own that Director Comey was not the person who should be leading the FBI,” Mrs. Sanders said. “And most importantly, the rank and file of the FBI lost confidence in their director.”
The revelation of Mr. Trump’s longtime doubts about Mr. Comey belied previous White House statements, including as recently as last week, vouching for the president’s continued confidence in his FBI chief.
Mrs. Sanders called Mr. Comey’s conduct during the Clinton email investigation an “atrocity.”
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump: James Comey ‘was not doing a good job’
She said Mr. Comey had “essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice” by announcing unilaterally last fall that no criminal charges would be brought against Hillary Clinton over her private email server.
Mr. Trump was prepared to meet with employees at the FBI headquarters to allay any concerns, she said.
Mrs. Sanders also provided a more detailed timeline of the president’s decision process.
Mr. Trump made the final decision on Tuesday to fire Mr. Comey, based on a critical performance review provided by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.
The White House earlier provided a letter dated Tuesday by Mr. Rosenstein that outlined the case against Mr. Comey, including charges he overstepped his authority and mishandled the Clinton email investigation.
But Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein first made the case in person Monday to Mr. Trump, who asked for Mr. Rosenstein to put it in writing, Mrs. Sanders said.
“They had come to him to express their concerns. The president asked they put those concerns and their recommendation in writing,” she said.
Mrs. Sanders said the president did not initiate Mr. Rosenstein’s review of Mr. Comey but that the deputy attorney general did it on his own.
Mr. Trump was scheduled to meet later Wednesday with acting FBI Director Andrew G. McCabe.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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