by Itunuoluwa Adebo
On the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump fired the director of the FBI James Comey in a move that shocked both the democrats and republicans, Tuesday.
If all you knew about was his position in the FBI, then here’s seven things you have got to know about James Come;
1. He dropped an “October bomb” last year
Comey announced on October 28 last year, less than two weeks before the presidential election that the bureau would investigate more emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton’s private server. The news sent a jolt through the political world, setting off alarm and anger among Democrats who worried the news would swing the election to Trump.
Clinton believes that Comey’s decision was a major cog in the wheel, which swung the election in Trump’s favour. Last week, she said “If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president.” When his dismissal was made public late Tuesday, former Clinton staffers, many of whom had been harshly critical of Comey, suggested on Twitter that Trump’s decision was politically motivated.
2. He was a registered Republican for many years
In testimony on Capitol Hill, Comey insisted that his FBI is “resolutely apolitical.” He does however, does have a partisan past — as a Republican. “I have been a registered Republican for most of my adult life,” he said before adding that he is “not registered any longer.”
3. He prosecuted Martha Stewart
Comey brought charges against lifestyle guru Martha Stewart in 2003 connected to a dodgy 2000 stock deal.
”This criminal case is about lying — lying to the FBI, lying to the SEC, lying to investors,” Comey, then a US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference. ”Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not for who she is, but because of what she did.”
Stewart was convicted on all counts in 2004 and sentenced to five months in prison. She served her time and was released in March 2005
4. He opposed Bush White House officials in a dramatic standoff
Comey, came into national prominence in 2007 when, during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he told the story of a tense standoff over a federal domestic surveillance program with top officials from the administration of President George W. Bush. The incident took place in the evening of March 10, 2004, according to Comey’s account, with then Attorney General John Ashcroft ill and incapacitated in a hospital intensive care unit.
5. He had previously investigated the Clinton’s
Yes, this is not the first time Comey investigated Hillary Clinton. Th email server probe marked the third time Comey has investigated Bill or Hillary Clinton. The first time was the mid-1990s, when Comey joined the Senate Whitewater Committee as a deputy special counsel. He into allegations that the Clintons took part in a fraud connected to a Arkansas real estate venture gone bust. No charges were ever brought against either Clinton, but the scandal would eventually lead to independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s probe that would result in the Lewinsky scandal.
In 2002, Comey, then a federal prosecutor, took over an investigation into President Bill Clinton’s 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich, who had been indicted on a laundry list of charges before fleeing the country. The decision set off a political firestorm focused on accusations that Rich’s ex-wife Denise made donations to the Democratic Party, the Clinton Library and Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign as part of a plan to get Rich off the hook.
6.He was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate in 2013
Comey is the seventh FBI director as at when confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2013, by a 93-1 count, with Sen. Rand Paul the lone holdout. The Kentucky Republican had threatened to block Comey’s nomination, but relented and allowed a vote after being further briefed on FBI drone surveillance policy. Comey succeeded Robert Mueller III, who had held the job for the previous 12 years.
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