(CNN) The White House just can't get its story straight about why President Trump decided to fire FBI Director James Comey.

When the move was initially announced -- just before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday night -- the White House pointed to a memo written by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that made the case that Comey had lost support of the organization with his handling of the investigation into the private email server maintained by Hillary Clinton.

"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," wrote Rosenstein. "Almost everyone agrees that the Director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives."

From the jump, it seemed odd that Comey's actions in and around the Clinton email server investigation were the impetus for this move. After all, while Trump had been openly critical of the Director's decision not to bring charges against Clinton, he had also heaped praise on Comey when the investigation was re-opened in late October due to the discovery of another trove of emails.

JUST WATCHED When Trump praised Comey and the FBI Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH When Trump praised Comey and the FBI 01:07

"It took guts for director Comey to make the move that he made," Trump said of Comey's decision at an Oct. 31 rally . "It took a lot of guts."