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<\/a>UPI<\/p><\/div>\n
by UPI<\/p>\n
May 9 (UPI) \u2014 In a surprise move Tuesday, President Donald Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey, following a misstep last week and recommendations from top officials at the U.S. Department of Justice.<\/p>\n
The White House confirmed Comey\u2019s firing Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions,\u201d spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FBI is one of our nation\u2019s most cherished and respected institutions,\u201d he continued. \u201cToday will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spicer said the search to replace Comey, the bureau\u2019s chief since 2013, will begin immediately.<\/p>\n
The reason for Comey\u2019s dismissal was not immediately made clear, but it followed the revelation Tuesday that the FBI director made a mistake while testifying in Congress last week \u2014 when he falsely testified that former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had forward \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of emails to the laptop of her estranged husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner.<\/p>\n
The FBI clarified the erroneous testimony in a letter to Congress earlier Tuesday, addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the emails found on Mr. Weiner\u2019s laptop computer related to the Clinton investigation occurred as a result of a backup of personal electronic devices,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n
The FBI noted the clear distinction between manually forwarding emails and having them uploaded via standard backup processes. The bureau said of nearly 50,000 emails on Weiner\u2019s computer that were pertinent to the Clinton investigation, it found that only two with classified information were forwarded manually by Abedin and 10 were sent via the backup process \u2014 a substantial difference from Comey\u2019s claim of \u201chundreds of thousands.\u201d<\/p>\n
All 12 of the emails containing classified material had been previously reviewed by FBI investigators, who ultimately recommended no charges against Clinton last summer.<\/p>\n
The FBI\u2019s letter also said Comey misspoke last week when he testified there were about 2,000 open counterterrorism investigations involving refugees in the United States. The bureau said it only has about 300 open cases.<\/p>\n