Former FBI Director James Comey fired back at President Trump's Saturday evening attack on CNN with a quote from Thomas Jefferson vouching for the importance of a free press.

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” - Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 28, 1786 pic.twitter.com/LEvy1hHRPI — James Comey (@Comey) November 25, 2017

The quote comes from a January 1786 letter to James Currie, a physician in Virginia with whom Jefferson discussed politics and philosophy.

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Comey's tweet came after Trump blasted CNN and its international arm in a tweet, accusing the network of spreading "Fake" news and representing the U.S. "very poorly" across the globe.

"@ FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!" he wrote.

Trump frequently targets news organizations in his tweets and remarks. But CNN often draws particular ire from the president.

Comey was abruptly fired by Trump earlier this year. In his letter notifying Comey of his termination, Trump cited the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE and his deputy Rod Rosenstein, though he later acknowledged that the FBI's probe into Russia's role in the 2016 election influenced his decision.