Heres a Timeline of What Led to James Comeys Firing
President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey out of the blue on Tuesday, but the events leading up to the shocking ouster can be traced back more than a year. Since July 2016, Comey has made controversial decisions, the FBI has investigated Hillary Clinton's emails and Russian interference in the U.S. election, and the Intelligence Community and Congress have both separately probed the Russia question as well. Each of these threads was an important strand that led to Tuesday's shakeup. Here's a timeline of the pertinent events that resulted in Comey's firing. September 4, 2013 Comey sworn in as director of the FBI, March 2, 2015 The New York Times reports that Clinton used a personal email server while she was secretary of state, July 24, 2015 Discovery of classified information on Clinton's server announced. The matter is then referred to the FBI, August 4, 2015 The Washington Post reports the FBI is investigating the security of Clinton's private email server, June 27, 2016 Attorney General Loretta Lynch meets with Bill Clinton. They later deny discussing the email investigation, July 1, 2016 Lynch announces she'll accept the recommendation of the FBI and career prosecutors at the end of email investigation, July 5, 2016 In an unusually public move, Comey announces he does not recommend criminal charges against Clinton, although he calls her "extremely careless", July 7, 2016 Comey reiterates to the House Oversight Committee that Clinton "did not break the law", July 2016 FBI opens an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the election, including probing any connections to Trump's campaign. This isn't confirmed until months later when Comey testifies before Congress in March 2017, September 28, 2016 Comey tells the House Judiciary Committee he doesn't plan to re-open the investigation into Clinton, October 28, 2016 Comey announces the FBI is reviewing a new crop of emails related to the Clinton investigation that were found on former Rep. Anthony Weiner's computer, November 6, 2016 Comey says the FBI has completed its review of the new batch of emails and did not change its findings on Clinton, November 8, 2016 Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton and is elected President of the United States, November 12, 2016 Clinton blames Comey for her defeat in a call with donors, November 13, 2016 On CBS "60 Minutes," Trump says he hasn't decided whether to keep Comey, December 9, 2016 President Obama orders the intelligence community to review and report on Russia's activity in the election, January 6, 2017 The Intelligence Community produces a report concluding, "Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump", January 10, 2017 Senate intelligence Committee announces it will conduct an independent investigation of the intelligence community's conclusion, January 12, 2017 The Justice Department Inspector General announces he will review the FBI's handling of Clinton's email case, January 25, 2017 House Intelligence Committee announces it will also open an investigation into Russia's involvement in the election, March 20, 2017 Comey confirms before the House Intelligence Committee that the FBI is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the election, March 21, 2017 House Intelligence Committee leader Devin Nunes views classified documents on White House grounds, prompting calls for him to recuse himself from the investigation, March 22, 2017 Nunes announces that the intelligence community "incidentally collected" information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump campaign, then goes to the White House to brief Trump, March 24, 2017 Nunes cancels a committee hearing set to feature former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, April 27, 2017 Rod Rosenstein confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, May 2, 2017 Clinton again blames her loss on Comey's Oct. 28 announcement, saying, "If the election were on Oct. 27, I would have been your president", May 3, 2017 Comey defends his conduct in the Clinton email investigation before the Senate Judiciary Committee, testifying he feels "mildly nauseous" that his actions may have affected the election, May 8, 2017 Clapper and Yates testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee after Nunes canceled their previous scheduled hearing, May 9, 2017 Comey fired as FBI head