Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to quit after the White House cast his recommendation as the sole reason former FBI Director James Comey was fired, according to The Washington Post.

Rosenstein in his recommendation to President Trump cited Comey’s handling of the FBI’s investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE’s private server as a reason for Comey's dismissal.

Trump had asked Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE to put in writing a rationale for firing the FBI director, the Post reported.

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The Trump administration has provided several explanations for Comey’s firing since Tuesday. Trump said Wednesday that Comey was not “doing a good job,” while White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Comey had committed “atrocities” while leading the bureau.

Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, saying it was time for “a new beginning” at the FBI.

“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to lead the bureau,” Trump wrote in the letter.