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Former FBI Director James Comey asked for more staff and money to investigate allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia just days before he was fired.

Comey last week asked for a “significant” increase in resources for the bureau’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in last year’s Presidential Election, the New York Times reports.

Donald Trump unexpectedly sacked Comey last night with immediate effect.

He said the decision to remove him had been based on “clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS)

The FBI is currently conducting an investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the lead up to the election.

Attorney General Sessions announced in March that he would recuse himself from matters relating to the investigation.

The White House said Comey had been been sacked over testimony he made before congress about Hillary Clinton emails found on a laptop used by staffer Huma Abedin which was found to be inaccurate.

He told the hearing of the senate Judiciary Committee Abedin had made a "regular practice" of forwarding "hundreds of thousands" of emails to her husband, disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner.

Attorney General Sessions also announced in March that he would recuse himself from matters relating to Hillary Clinton ’s emails.

Asked by reporters why he had sacked Comey, President Trump said: "He wasn’t doing a good job. Very simply. He was not doing a good job.

Asked if the unceremonious sacking had had an effect on his meetings with senior Russian diplomats today, Trump said: “Not at all.”

He did not respond to questions about whether the new FBI director would be in charge of the Russia investigation.

Trump met with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office today.

Press were barred from the meeting, but the Kremlin released a photo of the pair shaking hands.

The White House press corps were later unexpectedly scrambled to a photo call in the oval office, where Trump was meeting with Henry Kissinger.

Kissinger was National Security Advisor under Richard Nixon - one of many things in the last 24 hours that people have likened to the Watergate scandal.

(Image: REUTERS)

Comey’s firing has been likened to Nixon’s dismissal of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who was investigating the Watergate tapes.

Both Nixon’s Attorney General and his deputy resigned over the dismissal, in what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre.