'You are terminated.' The three letters that ended James Comey's career

1.The White House

Trump cannot resist an opportunity to once again proclaim his innocence of alleged improper ties with Russia (on Monday he tweeted: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax”). His claim that Comey gave such an assurance on no fewer than “three separate occasions” is also notable. In January he greeted the FBI director warmly at the White House and joked: “He’s become more famous than me.” But the president’s letter now says he has accepted the verdict of the justice department. He does not provide further details, making no mention of Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation.

2.Attorney general Jeff Sessions

Attorney general Jeff Sessions’s own role is under a cloud because he was forced to recuse himself from the Russia investigation after admitting contacts with the Russian ambassador during the election campaign. In this letter he avoids specifics and instead suggests that Comey no longer follows the “rules and principles” of the justice department or “sets the right example” for its officials. Like Trump’s, the letter lacks warmth or much by way of tribute to Comey’s career.

3.Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein

The heart of the matter. Although Comey’s erroneous testimony to Congress might have been a trigger, this memo from the recently confirmed deputy attorney general appears to be the administration’s central claim for firing him. It asserts that Comey usurped the justice department by announcing the closure of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state. Comey has since suggested he was compelled to do this because attorney general Loretta Lynch’s independence had been compromised by a meeting with Bill Clinton on a plane. But this begs the question: why did Trump wait until 9 May to act?

Comey called an extraordinary press conference last July in which he announced that Clinton would not face charges but condemned her handling of classified emails as “extremely careless”. At the time, the prevailing mood was relief in the Clinton camp, but the criticism stuck and was used against her during the campaign. Rosenstein likens it to a trial without jury and, damningly, “a textbook example” of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do. Comey caused even more anger in late October when he publicly announced further emails would come under scrutiny.

During testimony to Congress last week, Comey admitted he felt “mildly nauseous” that he might have affected the election outcome but “honestly it wouldn’t change the decision”. He defended all his actions and asked what the alternative would have been. This evidently failed to impress Rosenstein, who wants “corrective actions” to return to the department’s traditions. The memo, entitled “Restoring public confidence in the FBI”, makes no reference to the Russia inquiry.

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