Update: On Tuesday afternoon, the New York Times reported (and NBC confirmed) that President Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating Michael Flynn just after Flynn resigned in February, according to a memo written by just after the conversation happened:

"I hope you can let this go," the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. The existence of Mr. Trump's request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump's associates and Russia. Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo.

[New York Times]





The White House flatly denied the report shortly after it was published, saying "[T]he President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation…This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.":

Maine senator Angus King suggested impeachment is now on the table:

.@wolfblitzer: Could we be moving toward an impeachment process? Sen. King: "Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes" https://t.co/IVLrF5M12g — CNN (@CNN) May 16, 2017

Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz has told the FBI to turn over the memo — and all other records of communications between Trump and Comey — to the commitee.

Previously: Last Tuesday, the White House released a brief — and shocking — statement announcing that FBI Director James Comey, who testified last week before Congress about Russia's role in and the FBI's influence on the election and, had been fired.

The Motivation For The Firing Remains Unclear

In a recommendation letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein writes:

I cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken…the Director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General's authority…and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed…compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information[.]

[DOJ]





But late Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Rosenstein threatened to resign after the White House positioned him as the prime mover behind Comey's firing:

Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation, said the person close to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.



[Washington Post]





And other reports indicated that Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who had recused himself from the Trump/Russia investigation — was put in charge of building a case against Comey.

Senior White House and Justice Department officials had been working on building a case against Mr. Comey since at least last week, according to administration officials. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire him, the officials said.

[The New York Times]





Finally, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that he himself had made the decision to fire Comey, regardless of the AG's recommendation — and appeared to tell Holt he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation:

Trump tells NBC News he was thinking about the Russian investigation when he fired Comey pic.twitter.com/zD8Uo5O9Bi — Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) May 11, 2017

Trump Reportedly Deliberated Over The Firing For A Week

Politico reports that President Trump deliberated the firing for over a week as he became increasingly angry about the Russia investigation:

President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn't call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters. He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said…He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn't disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.

[Politico]





The Firing Followed On The Heels Of New Developments In The Russia Investigation

CNN reported Tuesday that subpoenas had been issued in the investigation into Michael Flynn:

Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey. The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI's broader investigation begun last July into possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia.

[CNN]

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Comey asked for funding for the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia a few days ago, raising the prospect that the move could have triggered a reaction from President Trump.

Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in money and personnel for the bureau's investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election, according to three officials with knowledge of his request.

[The New York Times]

Later Wednesday, CNN reported that Comey was fired for two reasons:

Comey never provided the President with any assurance of personal loyalty. The fact that the FBI's investigation into possible Trump team collusion with Russia in the 2016 election was accelerating.

[CNN]





Parallels Have Been Drawn To Nixon's Handling Of The Watergate Scandal

Not since Watergate has a president dismissed the person leading an investigation bearing on him, and Mr. Trump's decision late Tuesday afternoon drew instant comparisons to the "Saturday Night Massacre" in October 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor looking into the so-called third-rate burglary that would eventually bring Nixon down.



[The New York Times]

Though, The New Yorker's Jeffrey Frank argues that this is much worse:

But the situation today is far more problematic and dangerous than the one facing the nation forty-four years ago. Nixon, for all his misdeeds, understood the Presidency, and the demands of his job. He was fascinated by history, and the geopolitics of his world, and understood both. In foreign policy, if he didn't always act wisely, he acted consistently; it's inconceivable that he would have found himself in the incoherent foreign-policy muddle in which Trump has put himself in the case of North Korea, with its threatening nuclear stockpile, and South Korea, which has just elected a new leader who doesn't want a war.

[The New Yorker]

Comey Reportedly Told Associates Trump Was 'Crazy' After The Obama Wiretapping Claims

After President Trump accused his predecessor in March of wiretapping him, James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, was flabbergasted. The president, Mr. Comey told associates, was "outside the realm of normal," even "crazy."

[New York Times]





20 Democratic State Attorneys General Urged Deputy AG Rosenstein To Appoint A Special Counsel

The letter, dated Thursday, states, "As prosecutors committed to the rule of law, we urge you to consider the damage to our democratic system of any attempts by the administration to derail and delegitimize the investigation." You can read the whole letter here.