It’s been 24 years since a president fired the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1993, President Clinton ousted Willia…
It’s been 24 years since a president fired the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In 1993, President Clinton ousted William Sessions as FBI director after Sessions refused to voluntarily step down amid ethical concerns.
Sessions, appointed by Ronald Reagan, had been under investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility during George H. W. Bush’s final year in office.
Here’s how The Times reported the findings at the time:
“The Justice Department report found, among other things, that Sessions had engaged in a sham transaction to avoid paying taxes on his use of an FBI limousine to take him to and from work, that he had billed the government for a security fence around his home that provided no security and that he had arranged business trips to places where he could meet with relatives.”
Sessions dismissed the findings and refused to resign.
Clinton, at the recommendation of his attorney general, Janet Reno, dismissed Sessions.
“We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the FBI, ” Clinton said at a White House news conference. “It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency’s history is brought to a close.”
