THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 9, 2017

Statement from the Press Secretary

Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been

terminated and removed from office. President Trump acted based on the clear

recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff

Sessions.

aThe FBI is one of our Nationas most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a

new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement,a said President Trump.

A search for a new permanent FBI Director will begin immediately.

###

TH HOUSE

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May 9. 2017

Dear Director Cotney:

I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of

the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director ofthe Federal Bureau of

Investigation. 1 have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and

removed from of?ce. effective immediately.

While I greatly appreciate you informing me. on three separate occasions. that I am not under

investigation, I nevertheless concur with thejudgment ofthe Department ofJustice that you are

not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in

its vital law enforcement mission.

wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Donald J. Trump

@ffirr at the

Washingtun?. 20530

May 9, 2017

President Donald J. Trump

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As AttOrney General, lam committed to a high level of discipline,

integrity, and the rule of law to the Department of Justice? an institution

that I deeply respect. Based on my evaluation, and for the reasons

expressed by the Deputy Attorney General in the attached memorandum,

I have concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI. It

is essential that this Department of Justice clearly reaffirm its commitment

to longstanding principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal

investigations and prosecutions. The Director of the FBI must be someone

who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the Department of

Justice and who sets the right example for our law enforcement officials

and others in the Department. Therefore, I must recommend that you

remove Director James B. Comey, Jr. and identify an experienced and

qualified individual to lead the great men and women of the FBI.

Sincerely

Jeff Sessions

Attorney General





JS:ph

Attachment

U. S. Department of Justice

Of?ce of the Deputy Attorney General

The Deputy Attorney Geniernl llr?nrhiuytun. DC. 20.530

May 9, 2017

MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL if

FROM: ROD J.

DEPUTY ATTORNEY ENERAL

SUBJECT: RESTORING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN THE FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long been regarded as our nation?s premier federal

investigative agency. Over the past year, however, the Bl?s reputation and credibility have suffered

substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice. That is deeply troubling to

many Department employees and veterans, legislators and citizens.

The current FBI Director is an articulate and persuasive speaker about leadership and the

immutable principles of the Department of Justice. He deserves our appreciation for his public

service. As you and I have discussed, however, 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. Almost everyone agrees that the Director

made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives.

The Director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General?s authority on July 5, 2016, and

announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. It is not the

function of the Director to make such an announcement. At most, the Director should have said

the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its ?ndings to federal prosecutors. The

Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed Attorney General Loretta

had a con?ict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and

assume command of the Justice Department. There is a well-established process for other

officials to step in when a con?ict requires the recusal of the Attorney General. On July 5,

however, the Director announced his own conclusions about the nation?s most sensitive criminal

investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders.

Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not

hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal

investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal

investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his

version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a

textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.

Memorandum for the Attorney General Page 2

Subject: Restoring Public Con?dence in the Federal Bureau of Investigation

In response to skeptical questions at a congressional hearing, the Director defended his

remarks by saying that his ?goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what

do we think about it.? But the goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our

thoughts at a press conference. Tito goal is to determine whether there is suf?cient evidence to

justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority

delegated by the Attorney General to make a prosecutorial decision, and then if prosecution is

warranted - let the judge and jury determine the facts. We sometimes release information about

closed investigations in appropriate ways, but the FBI does not do it sua sponte.

Concerning his letter to the Congress on October 28, 2016, the Director cast his decision

as a choice between whether he would ?speak? about the decision to investigate the newly-

discovered email messages or ?conceal? it. ?Conceal? is a loaded term that tnisstates the issue.

When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing

anything; we are simply following the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-

public information. In that context, silence is not concealment.

My perspective on these issues is shared by former Attorneys General and Deputy

Attorneys General from different eras and both political parties. Judge Laurence Silberman, who

served as Deputy Attorney General under President Ford, wrote that ?it is not the bureau?s

reSponsibility to opine on whether a matter should be prosecuted.? Silbertnan believes that the

Director?s ?performance was so inappropriate for an FBI director that [he] doubt[s] the bureau

will ever completely recover.? Jamie Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General under President

Clinton, joined with Larry Thompson, Deputy Attorney General under President George W.

Bush, to opine that the Director had ?chosen personally to restrike the balance between

transparency and fairness, departing from the department?s traditions.? They concluded that the

Director violated his obligation to ?preserve, protect and defend? the traditions of the

Department and the FBI.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W.

Bush, observed that the Director ?stepped way outside his job in disclosing the recommendation

in that fashion" because the FBI director ?doesn?t make that decision." Alberto Gonzales, who

also served as Attorney General under President George W. Bush, called the decision ?an error

in judgment.? Eric Holder, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton and

Attorney General under President Obama, said that the Director?s decision ?was incorrect. It

violated long-standing Justice Department policies and traditions. And it ran counter to guidance

that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an

election season.? Holder concluded that the Director ?broke with these fundamental principles?

and ?negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the

Former Deputy Attorneys General Gorelick and Thompson described the unusual events

as ?real-time, raw-take transparency taken to its illogical limit, a kind of reality TV of federal

criminal investigation,? that is ?antithetical to the interests of justice.?

Donald Ayer, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President George HW.

Bush, along with other former Justice Department of?cials, was ?astonished and perplexed? by

the decision to ?break[] with longstanding practices followed by of?cials of both parties during

Memorandum for the Attorney General

Page 3

Subject: Restoring Public Con?dence in the Federal Bureau of Investigation

past elections." Ayer?s letter noted, ?Perhaps most troubling is the precedent set by this

departure from the Department?s widely-respected, non-partisan traditions.?

We should reject the departure and return to the traditions.

Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not

be taken I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The

way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the

FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands

the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors,

the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.