Trump fires FBI director Comey during active Russia investigation

President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017, while the Bureau was actively investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential campaign coordination. The White House cited a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation as justification. In an NBC interview two days later, Trump stated he had been thinking of "this Russia thing" when he decided to fire Comey, directly contradicting the stated rationale. The firing led Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller as Special Counsel eight days later.