{"slug":"comey-firing-obstruction-justice","title":"Firing James Comey: Obstruction of Justice and Attack on FBI Independence","date":"2017-05-09","lastUpdated":"2020-02-25","description":"On May 9, 2017, President Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination with the Trump campaign. Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that 'the Russia thing' was on his mind when he made the decision. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's subsequent investigation identified substantial evidence of obstruction of justice.","summary":"Trump fired FBI Director Comey while Comey's bureau was investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia. Trump's own statements to Lester Holt and to Russian officials — that the firing relieved 'great pressure' from the Russia investigation — directly contradicted the White House's stated justifications. Mueller's report identified ten episodes of potential obstruction and declined to exonerate Trump; it explicitly left open the question of indictment.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl","title":"Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election (Mueller Report), Volume II","publisher":"Special Counsel Robert Mueller / U.S. Department of Justice"},{"url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/full-trump-interview-with-lester-holt-president-addresses-comey-firing-940538947643","title":"Full Trump interview with Lester Holt — President addresses Comey firing","publisher":"NBC News"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html","title":"Trump Told Russians That Firing 'Nut Job' Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/us/politics/mueller-report.html","title":"Mueller Report Released: Read the Full Document","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-asked-comey-to-shut-down-flynn-investigation-according-to-memo-comey-wrote-after-meeting/2017/05/16/9157b6e8-3a45-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html","title":"Comey's memo: Trump asked him to shut down Flynn investigation","publisher":"The Washington Post"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["obstruction-of-justice","Comey","FBI","Russia-investigation","rule-of-law","first-term","Mueller"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-02-14","title":"Flynn meeting — 'let this go'","summary":"Trump clears the Oval Office of other officials and tells Comey he hopes Comey can 'let this go' regarding the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn. Comey writes a contemporaneous memo documenting the conversation. Flynn had resigned as National Security Advisor the day before over his lies about contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak."},{"date":"2017-03-20","title":"Comey confirms Russia investigation in public testimony","summary":"Comey publicly confirms in congressional testimony that the FBI is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination with the Trump campaign — the first public confirmation of the investigation's scope."},{"date":"2017-05-09","title":"Comey fired","summary":"Trump fires Comey via letter. The White House initially claims the decision was based on Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein's memo criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation — a justification Comey and senior DOJ officials immediately dispute."},{"date":"2017-05-11","title":"Trump tells Holt: 'Russia thing' was on his mind","summary":"In an interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt, Trump contradicts the official justification and says he was going to fire Comey regardless and that 'this Russia thing' was on his mind. The admission is widely described by legal experts as evidence of obstruction."},{"date":"2017-05-10","title":"Trump tells Russians firing relieved investigation pressure","summary":"The day after firing Comey, Trump meets with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak and says Comey was a 'nut job' whose firing relieved great pressure from the Russia investigation. The New York Times later reports the conversation based on a document summarized for officials."},{"date":"2017-05-17","title":"Mueller appointed Special Counsel","summary":"Deputy AG Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference and related matters — a direct result of the political crisis created by the Comey firing."},{"date":"2019-04-18","title":"Mueller Report released","summary":"The Mueller Report identifies ten episodes of potential obstruction of justice, declines to exonerate Trump, but does not recommend charges based on the OLC opinion against indicting a sitting president. Volume II is devoted entirely to obstruction."},{"date":"2020-02-25","title":"Senate Intelligence Committee confirms Russian interference","summary":"The Senate Intelligence Committee, in a bipartisan report, confirms that Russian operatives interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping Trump — and that the Trump campaign shared internal polling data with a Russian intelligence operative."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"UN Convention Against Corruption","article":"Article 23","provision":"Obstruction of justice — interference with the functioning of judicial and law-enforcement authorities"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Rule of law and democratic accountability; FBI agents and investigators whose work was obstructed; the American public's right to investigation of foreign interference","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-02-25","summary":"Updated with Senate Intel Committee bipartisan findings."}]}}