Ex-FBI director James Comey's political drama: A timeline

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

James Comey is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. His final months as FBI director, and weeks since his abrupt dismissal in May, have been mired in controversy. Here's a timeline to help you keep track:

June 2013

President Obama appointed Comey as the seventh director of the FBI. His career included time in the private sector as well as a tenure as deputy attorney general under President George. W. Bush. Succeeding former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Comey was confirmed by the Senate for a full 10-year-term.

"I must be out of my mind to be following Bob Mueller,"’ he said at the time. "I don't know if I can fill those shoes, but I know that, however I do, I will be standing truly on the shoulders of a giant."

August 2015

With the 2016 presidential primaries in full swing, the FBI confirmed it was investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of State.

July 1, 2016

President Obama's attorney general, Loretta Lynch, said she would accept the recommendations from the FBI and career prosecutors on the Clinton email case.

July 2, 2016

Clinton was interviewed by the FBI for 3.5 hours.

July 5, 2016

Comey said Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless" but gave a news conference to announce that the FBI would not be recommending charges against Clinton.

July 6, 2016

Lynch accepted the FBI's recommendation not to charge Clinton.

July 7, 2016

Comey appeared before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and was grilled for his decision to recommend against charging Clinton.

Sept. 7, 2016

Comey wrote a memo to his employees, defending his recommendation.

Sept. 28, 2016

Appearing during a congressional oversight hearing, Comey once again defended his recommendation not to charge Clinton.

"You can call us wrong, but don’t call us weasels. We are not weasels," Comey said. "Whether or not you agree with the result, this was done the way you want it to be done."

Oct. 28, 2016

Comey announced that new emails had been discovered on the laptop of former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was married to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and that messages may be related to the Clinton probe. His announcement came 11 days before Election Day.

Nov. 6, 2016

Two days before the presidential election, Comey wrote a letter to lawmakers saying that the FBI's previous decision not to recommend charges against Clinton over her emails would stand.

March 20, 2017

During a public hearing with the House Intelligence Committee, Comey publicly acknowledged that the FBI is investigating whether there was collusion between members of Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

Additionally, Comey dismissed Trump's claims that Trump was wiretapped by the Obama administration.

May 3, 2017

Comey made another trip to the Hill, defending his Oct. 28, 2016, decision to publicly announce the emails found on Weiner's laptop.

"It makes me mildly nauseous that we would have had an impact on the election," Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During the hearing, Comey said "hundreds and thousands" of emails involving Clinton had ended up on Weiner's laptop because of Clinton aide Huma Abedin. He said Abedin made "regular practice" of forwarding emails to her husband, Weiner.

May 9, 2017

After reports surfaced that Comey had incorrectly described Abedin's handling of the emails, the FBI confirmed Comey's erroneous testimony in a letter to lawmakers.

Hours later, the White House announced that Comey had been fired, citing concerns over his handling of the Clinton email probe.

May 10, 2017

Trump met with top Russian diplomats in the White House, during which he reportedly revealed classified information. According to a later New York Times report, the president also told them that day, "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off."

May 11, 2017

In an interview with NBC News, Trump called out Comey publicly: "Look he’s a showboat, he’s a grandstander. The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil – less than a year ago. It hasn’t recovered from that."

He also said that the Russia investigation was indeed on his mind when firing Comey. Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that he said to himself, in making the decision to fire the FBI director: "You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story. It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won."

May 16, 2017

News breaks that Trump had asked Comey to close the investigation into Michael Flynn, the resigned national security adviser back in February. Comey kept detailed memos of his conversations with Trump, including of a dinner in which the president reportedly said, "I hope you can let this go."

May 17, 2017

After news of the memos sent political circles into turmoil, the Justice Department announced that former FBI director Robert Mueller would be the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation.

June 1, 2017

The Senate Intelligence Committee announced that Comey would testify publicly as part of its Russia investigation. Additionally, they say Comey's public testimony will be followed by a closed session that will include classified information.

June 2, 2017

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said he wasn't sure if the White House would use executive privilege to keep Comey from testifying before the Senate panel. "Obviously, it's got to be reviewed," he said.

June 5, 2017

Trump spokesperson Sarah Sanders announced that the White House would not block Comey from testifying: "In order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."

June 6, 2017

News broke that Comey approached Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his uneasiness toward Trump directly contacting him. Their interaction came after the president pressed Comey to shut down the Flynn inquiry. He wanted Sessions to shield the FBI from such contacts, but Sessions was unable to provide those assurances.

June 8, 2017

Comey is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m.

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