Thats all the time we have left this evening. Please stay with the Fox News Channel for all night, continuing coverage of this breaking news. The president firing the fbi director james comey, bret baier is next. We will see you back here. An important show tomorrow. Bret a massive political shock wave hits washington. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. The president did not fire the entire fbi. He fired the director. Speak with the goal was to act on recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general and the Attorney General. The administration has to answer the question why now . Bret President Trump writing the letter that he believes comey cannot lead the fbi. Essentially puts the nail in
the coffin for President Trump to fire him. Bret tonight, new questions. Did the president hint at comeys firing a month ago . We will see what happens. Its going to be interesting. Bret What Happens Next in the russia investigation . Catastrophically compromise the investigation. The investigation going on in the intelligence committee. Bret we have all of the angles covered. A Special Edition of Special Report starts right now. Good evening. Welcome to washington. I am bret baier. The Reality Tv Star Billionaire Businessman who made you are fired a catchphrase used it this afternoon and what is turning out to be one of his most controversial moves yet. President trumps dismissal of james comey has rocked washington. Democrats tried to link the action to the investigation of a possible connection between the Trump Campaign and the russians before the elections. Demands for a special prosecutor are louder tonight and democrats are jumping to watergate comparisons. John roberts starts us off from the north lawn. Good evening. Fbi director was fired for usurping the authority of then Attorney GeneralLoretta Lynch, but he announced the results of the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails last july. The president s opponents were quick to make the firing about him and not the fbi director. There were handshakes from his Police Escort on the tarmac in los angeles as james comey boarded the fbi jet for the final time. While it was the president who fired comey, white house or the state was the newly minted Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein who had lost confidence in comey. Sources say rosenstein,
confirmed 14 days ago, assessed the situation and determined that comey should be replaced. Democrats who had recently praiseds integrity, could not question the man, only the timing. The first question the administration has to answer is why now. If the administration had objections to the way director comey handled the Clinton Investigation, they have those objections the minute the president got into office. But they didnt fire him then. Why did it happen today . Exactly when comeys tenure became a problem is unclear. In this march speech to boston college, comey seemed to think he was safe. You are stuck with me for about another six and a half years. Testimony last week appeared to seal his fate. Director comey had lost the confidence of the rank and rankandfile within the fbi. He certainly i think lost the
confidence from members of both sides, republicans and democrats in the house and senate. Most important, he lost the confidence of the american people. The president s attitude toward comey has been a roller coaster. Last july, he was incensed at comeys decision not press charges against Hillary Clinton. Today is the best evidence after that weve seen that our system is absolutely totally rigged. Its rigged. After comey reopened the investigation in late october, President Trump did an aboutface. It took guts for director comey to make the move he made. When the two men met after the inauguration, got a warm handshake and a pat on the shoulder, and whispered words from the president. Three hours before the firing, press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about comey. Does the president still have full confidence in fbi director james comey . I have not asked the president. The president showed no reluctance or regret in firing company. In his Letter Writing while i greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that i am not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department Of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. Some democrats, pennsylvania senator bob casey called the firing nixonian. Others claim that president was trying to derail the russia investigation. Insisted rosenstein appoint a special prosecutor. The ink was barely dry on the termination letter, and white house officials were saying its time to get past the notion that the Trump Campaign colluded with russia. We have heard that time and time again. We heard it in the testimonies earlier this week. Weve heard it for the last 11 months. There is no there there. Its time to move on. White house feels that has plenty of political cover and
its firing of james comey, pointing out that the recommendation came from a man who was recently praised by democrats. Bret john roberts, thank you. By all accounts, very few people in the fbi saw this coming. But james comey had become a magnet for controversy with another serious blow to his credibility just to coming a few minutes before his dismissal was announced. Catherine herridge has that story. Halfdozen former fbi agent told fox news tonight that the bureau was blindsided by the decision including the fbi director who was traveling in los angeles. If comey had known, at the agent said, he wouldve sent a personal email to the workforce. The agents said comey had become a polarizing figure and his testimony before the senate did not help his case. Two sources tell fox news The Unmasking Scandal was part of the white house calculus to fire the fbi director james comey. Republicans Accused Comey of slow walking records through congress about americans swept up in foreign intelligence. There should be a record somewhere in our government for a request to unmask regardless of who made the request. While there is an extensive Paper Trail Showing who made the request to unmask Trump Campaign associates, including mike flynn, the director only acknowledged in march the fbi probe began nearly a year ago. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian government. And whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russias efforts. Multiple sources told fox last weeks Senate Testimony showed comey refused to acknowledge his mistakes in the clinton email case, specifically his public statements where critics that he took on the role of prosecutor, insisting investigators must find intent, which is not in the criminal
statute. 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 told senators he would do it all over again, including the decision to reopen the clinton email case 11 days before the election. I stared at speak and conceal. Speaking would be really bad. There is an election. Concealing in my view would be catastrophic. Not just to the fbi but well beyond. Explaining comeys dismissal, the Deputy Attorney general wrote the fbi never conceals investigations. It is not publicly discuss them. In his hearing, Rod Rosenstein was nine to metal on the russia probe. Its an issue of principle that as a nominee for Deputy Attorney general, i should not take action. Acting fbi director andrew mccabe. In 2015, his wife ran for a
pistole. He spent 27 years at the fbi, rising to deputy director. He was at the heart of the post9 11 investigations. He most recently served as tsa administrator. Becoming the president of Anderson University in indiana. He is said to have a strong personal relationship with the vice president. Tonight he was not returning phone calls praised you one thank you. Lets get some analysis now from ron haas, former assistant director of the fbi. He works with the Law EnforcementLegal Defense fund. You spent almost 30 years at the bureau. You worked alongside james comey in your last year there. Your reaction tonight. Shocking. Of course, i work in the d. C. Area, so i am subject to the hypocrisy on capitol hill, the politics that have swirled around the Clinton Investigation and the russian influence on the
investigation. I am not totally shocked. I knew there had been voices within the fbi, friends and associates of mine outside the fbi who have been critical of how far the doctor went last year in july. Some of his comments. And they agreed with rosensteins assessment that the director went too far. But i will tell you, having worked with jim comey, he has the heart of a boy scout. He has a moral compass. I think jim comey has slept well with the decisions hes made. I think we heard some of his justification for those decisions in his Testimony Last week. I dont think the director has missed a lot of sleep because he things he did wrong. My experience with him, i was the director of criminal. I Tens Of Thousands of cases under me, and this director is not one thats ever going to come to you and say heres the
result we want in this case or in any given case. Its about finding the truth and looking at the facts, understanding how the fax line up with the law and doing the right thing. The fortunate thing i think for america is this institution is bigger than jim comey. I do think he was widely respected and appreciated for his service to the organization, but the fbi is bigger than one person command the organizational contingent move forward. Their work is to keep america safe and to get to the truth. You and you are part of the crew who believed he was boxed in essentially by Loretta Lynchs action with former president clinton . I look at Hillary Clintons own decisions as being the original sin. The timing of the Clinton Investigation was entirely owned by hillary and her staff who kept it quiet for as long as
they did. It gave the fbi a limited amount of time to investigate during the run up to the election. He knew he was under a clock, and then went Loretta Lynch met with bill clinton on that tarmac, it casts for the shadow on the ability of the Department Of Justice and the fbi to come in the american publics eyes, run a thorough investigation. Bret do you buy the layout of the administrations actions saying it is tied to rosensteins assessment that he was just approved. He looked at the details and it points back to the original july event as the explanation why hes getting fired. Do you buy that this is the reason hes getting fired . I dont buy that. I think the timing lines up fairly neatly against that, but if jim comey committed a mortal sin in his position as fbi director, Loretta Lynch could have asked the president last july to fire him. She could have said im going to
fire you. Im going to make the recommendation for because last summer. Could have done it again in the fall if they were inclined to. President obama could have taken this step if that much faith was lost. I think this was just an opportune time. Bret using this administration you think this administration was looking for that time . I do. Bret you are not happy and how this happened . Not at all. Jim comey traveling to the west coast. If this is your assessment, call him into a facetoface meeting and give him his due. He is a good public servant. We heard reference to it in one of your warm ups, he saw the fbi is the pinnacle his career in Public Service. He certainly left a job that was paying a lot more for a lot less pressure than this job to come back and run the fbi. I think he did that as a true Blue American and true and
honest Public Service in his time there. He wanted to finish his tenure. Bret he didnt answer a quet testimony about the investigation into russia and the possible connections. In the letter that President Trump sent out today informing him that he was firing him, he said, the president , while i greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that i am not under investigation, and he continues on. If that happened on three separate occasions, isnt that the wrong thing for somebody to do to tell somebody they are not under investigation . Yes, generally. We are not exposing to anyone who the subject of an investigation is. The facts are the facts, they may change from tomato tomorrow, and so what i may reassure you about today may change entirely tonight. That is a mistaken path, assuming it happened. I think that is a big assumption. Bret thank you for coming in. When this special hour of Special Report continues, more on james comey, his firing an hour we got to this point. Stay with us. Do more. Add one a day womens complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. One a day womens in gummies and tablets. And why a leading Car Brand Counts on us to keep their Dealer Network streamlined and nimble. Businesses count on communication, and Communication Counts on centurylink. Got to this point. Before james comey became the seventh director of the fbi, he was born in new york, raised in new jersey and married to his College Sweetheart prayed he prosecuted Martha Stewart while serving as the u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york and in 2003, the 68 comey was nominated by president george w. Bush to be the Deputy Attorney general. The next year, colby had a showdown with Top Administration officials because they tried to get a hospitalized Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft to reauthorize an nsa program from his hospital bed. I thought i witnessed and effort to take advantage of a sick man who did not have the powers of the Attorney General. Comey admits he was a registered republican for years but ended up being nominated to lead the federal bureau of investigation for a 10year term by a democratic president. He doesnt care about politics. He only cares about getting the job done. Comey confronted the rise of
isis, telling 60 minutes he preferred the Term Loan Rat to a lone. Lone wolf. 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 revisited the server investigation. Clinton has placed blame oncall meet for trumps win. The relationship with the winners seemed cordial enough. James. He has become more famous than me. Comeys testimony about russian interference was not satisfying many in the g. O. P. Because he wouldnt say for sure he would probe damaging leaks the White House Police came from the last administration. Can you assure them that if its going to be investigated . I cant. But i hope people watching know
how seriously we take leaks of Classified Information but i dont want to confirm it saying that we are investigating. As recently as march, comey thought he would be around a lot longer. You are stuck with me. Comey testified last week that late in the president ial campaigns when wrestling with whether to speak to congress about the Clinton Investigation or conceal details, he prayed for a third door, but it wasnt there. Today comey was shown the door. Bret thank you. Brit hume has seen a lot. He is our senior clinical analyst, joins us tonight. Good evening. Get your reaction to the day and the reaction to the reaction. Its been quite a storm, which i fully anticipated the minute i heard it. Politically, there would be hell to pay. The democrats have attacked the timing of this. It is hard to attack the substance since so many of them didnt like comey. Trump suggested he ought to be fired a long time ago. The second thing is that he views it as a basis for calling for an independent prosecutor, which has been their mantra. They are all saying it. Theres a handful of republican senators misgivings. Richard burr of north carolina. This firestorm may involve republicans as well as democrats, in which case