News

New Report Details The Moment FBI Director Comey Realized Trump Was 'Crazy'

by Joseph Milord
Getty Images

It all happened after Donald Trump delivered the most notable lie of his tenure in the White House.

When the president accused Barack Obama of wiretapping him, a claim that has been debunked many times over, former FBI Director Jim Comey told associates the president was "crazy," a Wednesday night report from the New York Times detailed.

Comey, who himself testified that the FBI had no information to support Trump's wiretapping claims, also remarked to associates that Trump was "outside the realm of normal," the Times says.

Getty Images

The new report addresses many questions that the abrupt firing of Director Comey begged for.

While the White House claims that Trump fired Comey upon the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, the Times reports the firing was actually a result of personal grievances Trump had with Comey.

Among those grievances was Comey's lack of appetite to investigate leaks against Donald Trump, the lack of support given to Trump over his wiretapping claims and the former director's handling of the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Furthermore, the New York Times report was just one of multiples stories filed by notable outlets that contradicted the narrative the White House gave reporters after Tuesday's firing of Comey.

For example, in the letter in which Trump formally terminated Comey's tenure, the president said the former director told Trump on three separate occasions that he was not the subject of an investigation.

The Wall Street Journal, however, cited Comey associates who say the claim the former director exonerated Trump is "farcical."

As for the idea that Comey's firing came down to a recommendation from the Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, the Washington Post reports Rosenstein threatened to resign after being made the scapegoat for Trump's sudden decision.

Overall, the wave of reports and leaks that have followed Comey's firing points to one thing: The rationale the White House offered for why Donald Trump fired FBI Director Jim Comey is unravelling.

Citations: 'Enough Was Enough': How Festering Anger at Comey Ended in His Firing (NY Times)