Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said recently fired FBI Director James Comey " lost the confidence" of " rank-and-file" FBI employees and had become a " distraction"
Last Updated May 9,2017 11: 19 PM EDT
Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said fired FBI Director James Comey had « lost the confidence » of the « rank-and-file » FBI employees, « politicized » his role and become a « distraction » in explaining the timing of the former director’s dismissal.
Sanders, speaking exclusively to CBSN’s « Red and Blue » Tuesday night, gave those reasons when asked why Comey was dismissed Tuesday, instead of when Mr. Trump first took office. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein cited Comey’s mishandling of the Clinton email investigation as grounds for his dismissal.
President Trump released a statement Tuesday saying James Comey is no longer able to effectively lead the FBI. CBS News justice and homeland secu…
The FBI is investigating any ties between Russians and Mr. Trump’s associates, so the timing of Comey’s dismissal is raising the eyebrows of Democrats and even some Republicans.
« Look, I think that there’s been a long list of reasons that Director Comey isn’t there, » Sanders told CBSN.
Comey was dismissed the same day the FBI acknowledged he gave inaccurate information to Congress about how many sensitive emails Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded to her husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner.
Sources told CBS News that while Abedin did occasionally forward emails to Weiner’s laptop for printing, the number was far smaller than the « hundreds and thousands » Comey claimed and it wasn’t a usual practice. Furthermore, none of the emails forwarded were marked classified, but later, a small number were found to contain classified information.
Sanders said that misstep hurt Comey’s credibility, and added to a « constant barrage of mistakes. » She emphasized the need to restore « credibility » to the FBI.
Sanders also said she received multiple texts from people within the FBI community praising the White House for firing Comey.
Any investigation the FBI was conducting into Russian connections to Trump associates « will continue to happen, » Sanders said.
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