But the president told NBC News on Thursday that he was going to can Comey even without their recommendations. "I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard".
A number of times, McCabe directly contradicted statements that had been made by the White House both about former Director Comey and the FBI investigation into the Trump-Russia affair.
And some Republicans are annoyed at the man who'll be sitting in Comey's chair instead, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, because they say he's too close to Democrats.
'Any investigation that was taking place on Monday is still taking place today, ' she said.
During a Thursday interview with NBC's Lester Holt, President Trump claimed the decision to fire FBI Director James Comey amid an ongoing investigation into his campaign's ties with Russian Federation was ultimately his and his alone. "I said, 'If it's possible, will you let me know, am I under investigation?' He said, 'You are not under investigation'". Trump called Comey "outside the realm of normal" and "crazy" and over the next few weeks began saying Comey should be fired, the newspaper reported. A timeline of the decision compiled by the White House said Mr Trump was "strongly inclined" to dismiss Mr Comey before the Justice Department meeting, but not that he had already made the decision. Asked directly by Sen.
Trump shrugged off the political firestorm he created with Comey's dismissal as he met with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the White House changed its narrative of the decision to fire Comey, and instead of claiming that it was a direct result of a recommendation by Rosenstein, stated that Trump had been considering to fire Comey ever since his election victory in November 2016.
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The Arctic Council, he said, will continue to be an important platform as the Trump administration deliberates. The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and Indigenous groups.
"We should maybe have an impeachment clock", Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said.
According to that report, and numerous others, the president had grown increasingly angry with Comey for what he believed was disloyalty, and he was frustrated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation director always seemed to be on TV talking about the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russian Federation.
"I take Rod (Rosenstein) at his word that be believed everything in that memo but he must know that it's going to be used as a fig leaf to fire Comey", one former official said.
Trump as a candidate had expressed support for at least one event that, in Rosenstein's letter, was presented as evidence of misconduct: Comey's decision to revisit the email investigation 11 days before the election.
Rosenstein's letter outlined his concerns with the director, but it did not explicitly recommend that Comey be fired.
"His dismissal further confuses an already hard investigation by the Committee".
Alongside McCabe at the witness table were Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Admiral Michael Rogers, who heads the National Security Agency, Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Robert Cardillo, who runs the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
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