Trump Is Waiting For You to Thank Him for Firing James Comey

The president awaits a nation’s gratitude.

Cheriss May/ZUMA

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On Thursday, President Donald Trump complained about a lack of appreciation for firing James Comey as head of the FBI, asking on Twitter when the gratitude will start pouring in.

The president’s rhetorical question overlooks the fact that his explosive decision to fire Comey was the catalyst for the gravest threat to his presidency: the appointment of Robert Mueller as a special counsel investigating Trump’s campaign ties Russia. Soon after Comey’s May 2017 firing, Trump seemed to confirm to NBC’s Lester Holt that he got rid of Comey because of the investigation, and reportedly told Russian officials that the firing had relieved pressure on his administration. The admissions have become central to Mueller’s investigation into whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice by sacking Comey.

Trump’s tweet comes ahead of the imminent expected release of a Justice Department inspector general report on Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. CNN has reported the findings are likely to be critical of the actions of both the former FBI director and Loretta Lynch, the Obama administration’s final attorney general.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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