Both fired their FBI directors.

Coincidentally, President Bill Clinton fired an FBI director named Sessions, while President Donald Trump fired one on the recommendation of an attorney general named Sessions. Then, there are several substantial similarities between the two firings.

News reports by The New York Times and The Washington Post following Clinton’s dismissal of FBI Dir. Sessions reveal some striking similarities:

Sessions Was Fired by Clinton; Comey Was Fired on Advice of Sessions

In July of 1993, Pres. Clinton fired FBI Director William S. Sessions, while Pres. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May of 2017.

Both Fired on Attorney General’s Recommendation

NYT-“Mr. Clinton said that after reviewing Mr. Sessions's performance, Attorney General Janet Reno had advised him that Mr. Sessions should go. "After a thorough review by the Attorney General of Mr. Sessions's leadership of the F.B.I., she has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau." WaPo-“The president told reporters afterwards that he acted after Attorney General Janet Reno ‘reported to me in no uncertain terms that he {Sessions} can no longer effectively lead the bureau and law enforcement community" and that he agreed with that assessment.”

Pres. Trump fired Comey on the advice of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Reasons for Firing Include Lack of Leadership, Confidence

NYT-“Mr. Clinton said that after reviewing Mr. Sessions's performance, Attorney General Janet Reno had advised him that Mr. Sessions should go. ‘After a thorough review by the Attorney General of Mr. Sessions's leadership of the F.B.I., she has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau.’" NYT-“Mr. Clinton, explaining his reasons for removing Mr. Sessions, effective immediately, said, ‘We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the F.B.I. It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency's history is brought to a close.’" WaPo-“Clinton said ‘we cannot have a leadership vacuum’ at the agency. Reno, reading from a letter she wrote the president, said she had concluded that Sessions ‘had exhibited a serious deficiency in judgment involving matters contained in the {OPR} report and that he does not command the respect and confidence needed to lead the bureau and the law enforcement community in addressing the many issues facing law enforcement today.’" WaPo-“Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, said that Sessions ‘has lost rank-and-file support and therefore his leadership effectiveness has been severely compromised.’"

Likewise, the Trump Administration attributes Comey’s firing to a loss of confidence in him.

Concerns Over Political Motivation of Firing

WaPo-“But House Banking Committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.), a longtime friend of the director, said Sessions was ‘cut down by intriguers in the FBI and the discredited Bush attorney general, who manufactured a crisis, fueled it with whispers and burned up a man of impeccable decency. This is a shameful example of the rawest kind of internal agency political chicanery.’” NYT-“But today, with Ms. Reno saying the Director should be above politics, it was evident that the Administration feared that dismissing Mr. Sessions might be viewed as politically motivated.”

With Trump’s firing of Comey, media reports again raised the possibility of political motivation.

Schumer Called for Dismissal of Both

WaPo-“Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, said that Sessions ‘has lost rank-and-file support and therefore his leadership effectiveness has been severely compromised.’"

Prior to Comey’s departure, Sen. Schumer had called for his removal.

Firing Was Delayed

NYT-“Still unclear is why it took so long for Mr. Clinton and his Attorney General to act in Mr. Sessions's case.”

Pres. Trump also waited to fire his FBI director, rather than relieve Comey of his duties immediately after the change in administrations.