Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday FBI Director James Comey was fired to restore confidence in the law enforcement agency and not because of any connection to its probe of possible Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

“That was not what this was about,” Pence told reporters at the U.S. Capitol when asked whether President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Comey was related to the Russia investigation. “The president took strong and decisive leadership here to put the safety and security of the American people first.”

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(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Howard Goller)