President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey today. From the Clinton email investigation to the Trump-Russia probe, this is all of the major dates concerning Comey:
- July 5, 2016: Comey says the FBI will not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state but called Clinton and her staff "extremely careless" in handling classified material.
"Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case," Comey said.
- July 7, 2016: Comey is grilled by Republican legislators for five hours during a House Oversight Committee hearing on the Clinton email scandal. Comey stands by his decision to not charge Clinton.
"As a non-lawyer, as a non-investigator, it would appear to me you have got a hell of a case," an exasperated Rep. Earl "Buddy" Carter, R-Ga., told Comey.
"I'm telling you we don't, and I hope people take the time to understand why," Comey responded.
- Aug. 16, 2016: In a letter released by lawmakers, the FBI defends its decision not to charge Clinton once again.
"As the Director stated, the FBI did find evidence that Secretary Clinton and her colleagues were extremely careless in their handling of certain, very sensitive, highly classified information," FBI acting assistant director Jason V. Herring wrote. "The Director did not equate 'extreme carelessness' with the legal standard of 'gross negligence' that is required by the statute. In this case, the FBI assessed that the facts did not support a recommendation to prosecute her or others within the scope of the investigation for gross negligence."
- Sept. 2, 2016: The FBI releases Clinton email investigation documents.
- Sept. 7, 2016: In a memo to FBI employees, Comey says the decision not to charge Clinton was "not a cliff-hanger," and that "despite all the chest beating by people no longer in government, there really wasn't a prosecutable case." The letter incites fury among Republican lawmakers.
- Sept. 28, 2016: Comey says he refuses to reopen the investigation into Clinton in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
"Since you announced that there would be no prosecution of Secretary Clinton in July, there have been several very material issues that are troubling, and would those not require a reopening of the investigation to solve those issues?" Rep. James Sensenbrenner, asked.
"I haven't seen anything that would come near to that kind of situation," Comey responded.
- Oct. 3, 2016: Law enforcement officials seize a laptop, phone and tablet belonging to Anthony Weiner, who was under investigation for alleged inappropriate communications with a minor. They discover the laptop contained emails from Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin.
- Oct. 7, 2016: The Obama administration officially accuses Russia of meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
- Oct. 27, 2016: Comey receives a full briefing by agents in his office about the findings on Weiner's laptop.
- Oct. 28, 2016: Comey sends a letter to congressional leaders informing them of the existence of emails pertinent to the Clinton investigation.
- Nov. 6, 2016: Comey wrote that investigators had worked "around the clock" to review all the emails found on a device used by Weiner. In the end, the FBI concluded that it found nothing to alter its original opinion that it would seek no charges against Clinton.
- Nov. 9, 2016: Trump is elected president of the United States.
- Early January: President-elect Trump is informed by U.S. intelligence agency leaders that Russia may possess compromising information about him.
- Jan. 10, 2017: Comey appears with NSA Director Mike Rogers, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee to talk about Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. election. Comey refuses to confirm that the FBI is looking into Trump team's ties to Russia.
- Jan. 13: Democrats, after a briefing with Comey, accuse him of stonewalling about whether the FBI is investigating ties between Trump associates and Russia. On the same day, the Senate Intelligence Committee announces it will look into Russian interference in the election.
- Jan. 18: President-elect Trump informs Comey that it is his intention to keep him on as FBI director.
- Feb. 24: FBI rejects requests from the Trump administration to knock down news reports concerning communications between the Trump campaign and Russia.
- March 1: The Washington Post reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not disclose contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
- March 2: Sessions recuses himself from investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, including any Russian interference in the electoral process.
- March 5: Comey asks the the Department of Justice to refute Trump's tweet claiming Trump Tower was wiretapped during the election.
- March 9: Comey meets with members of Congress concerning Trump's tweet claiming the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower during the election.
- March 20: Comey confirms that the FBI is investigating any links between the Trump election campaign and the Russian government.
- March 20: Comey refutes Trump's tweets alleging that the Obama administration was wiretapping Trump Tower during the presidential campaign.
- Late March/early April: The House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., cancels all other scheduled testimony on Russia and insists that Comey come back to the Hill for a closed-door briefing. Nunes recuses himself from the Russia investigation before that meeting is ever scheduled.
- April 12: Trump is asked on Fox Business Network about his decision to keep Comey on:
Maria Bartiromo: Was it a mistake not to ask Jim Comey to step down from the FBI at the outside of your presidency, is it too late now to ask him to step down?
President Trump: No, it's not too late. But I have confidence in him, we'll see what happens. It's going to be interesting, but we have to just - look, I have so many people that want to come in to this administration, they're so excited about this administration and what's happening.
Bankers, law enforcement, everybody wants to come into this administration. Don't forget, when Jim Comey came out, he saved Hillary Clinton, people don't realize that. He saved her life because I call it " Comey won," and I joke about it a little bit. When he was reading those charges, she was guilty on every charge and then he said, "She was essentially OK."
- April 25: Senate confirms Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general in a 94-to-6 vote.
- May 2: Trump tweets: "FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony . . . Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?
- May 3: Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his decision to announce the reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton and her emails.
"Lordy, has this been difficult," Comey said of the fallout from his Clinton decision. Comey also says, " It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election." Comey alleges in the hearing that Huma Abedin "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails [to Anthony Weiner], some of which contain classified information."
- May 4: Comey briefs members of the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors about the Russia probe, now being led by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.
- May 8: ProPublica published a report stating that Comey exaggerated the number of emails Abedin forwarded to Weiner.
- May 9: FBI sends a letter to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee clarifying that Comey misspoke about the number of emails forwarded.
- May 9: Trump fires Comey, citing recommendations from Sessions and Rosenstein.
Barrister says prosecutors focused on messages to undermine Erin Patterson's family ties.