US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he “did a great service” in firing former FBI Director James Comey, following Thursday’s report by the Justice Department’s inspector general on the agency’s handling of an investigation into presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server.
The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the FBI. Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the history of the FBI. I did a great service to the people in firing him. Good Instincts. Christopher Wray will bring it proudly back!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2018
“The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the FBI. Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the history of the FBI. I did a great service to the people in firing him,” Trump said on Twitter.
The report sharply criticized Comey for violating Justice Department policies and accused him of usurping the authority of then Attorney General Loretta Lynch when in July 2016 he held a news conference to announce there would be no charges against Clinton for her email use as secretary of state.
Comey chastised Clinton for being “extremely careless” but said there was insufficient evidence to charge her with a federal crime. That upset Republicans who said Comey’s statement could have helped Clinton’s election campaign.
Comey said Lynch forced his hand when she did not recuse herself from the Clinton probe, even after a June 2016 meeting with former President Bill Clinton aboard her plane raised concerns she was conflicted.
Thursday’s report found that while Lynch did not discuss the email investigation with Bill Clinton, she failed “to recognise the appearance problem” created by the meeting.
Trump and his allies have accused a clique of FBI and Justice Department officials of working against Trump.