"About time," Roger Stone said when he picked up the phone Tuesday night and was asked about James Comey's abrupt ouster as FBI director.



Stone, a colorful and controversial longtime friend to President Trump, is one of several Trump associates under FBI scrutiny for alleged Russian ties during the 2016 campaign.



Stone, who likes a good political brawl, has challenged Comey repeatedly to put up or shut up on the evidence.



"This guy has politicized the FBI like no previous director," Stone said.



In March, Comey confirmed that the FBI was conducting a counter-intelligence investigation into whether any of Trump's current or former aides cooperated with Russian intelligence agencies to interfere with the presidential campaign.



Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign had any Russian ties, and this week called the allegations a hoax.



Comey's firing is unlikely to end the FBI inquiry, which began last July. Indeed, Democrats uniformly said it proved the need for a special prosecutor independent of the White House.



Stone said he hoped the "wild goose chase" would conclude.



White House officials have periodically denied that Trump still speaks with Stone, who got his start as a political operative under President Nixon, and has invited controversy in multiple campaigns since then.



But Stone has been at Trump's side for decades, leaving their actual relationship the subject of frequent speculation.



Stone said he heard about Comey's firing while on a radio show. He would not say when he last spoke with Trump or how the president's opinion of Comey had evolved.



"It must not be very good," he said. "He just fired him."