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Lake-Lehman’s proposed budget includes 3.1 percent tax hike

WASHINGTON &#8212; President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, dramatically ousting the nation&#8217;s top law enforcement official in the midst of an FBI investigation into whether Trump&#8217;s campaign had ties to Russia&#8217;s meddling in the election that sent him to the White House.In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore &#8220;public trust and confidence&#8221; in the FBI. Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his public comments on an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton&#8217;s email practices, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last year&#8217;s campaign.Trump made no mention of Comey&#8217;s role in the Clinton investigation, which she has blamed in part for the election result. But in announcing the firing, the White House circulated a scathing memo, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Comey&#8217;s handling of the Clinton probe, including the director&#8217;s decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing &#8220;derogatory information&#8221; about Clinton.Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the bureau&#8217;s Trump-Russia probe, Rosenstein has been in charge.This is only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.Comey, who was in Los Angeles to speak at an FBI recruiting event, boarded his plane and headed back to Washington instead.Democrats slammed Trump&#8217;s action, comparing it to President Richard Nixon&#8217;s &#8220;Saturday Night Massacre&#8221; decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation in 1973, which prompted the resignations of the Justice Department&#8217;s top two officials.&#8220;This is Nixonian,&#8221; Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., declared on Twitter. &#8220;Outrageous,&#8221; said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, calling for Comey to immediately be summoned to testify to Congress about the status of the Trump-Russia investigation. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the White House was &#8220;brazenly interfering&#8221; in the probe.Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Congress must form a special committee to investigate Russia&#8217;s interference in the election.Democrats expressed deep skepticism about the stated reasons for Tuesday&#8217;s firing, raising the prospect of a White House effort to stymie the investigations by the FBI and congressional panels.Trump will now appoint Comey&#8217;s successor. The White House said the search for a replacement was beginning immediately. Comey&#8217;s deputy, Andrew McCabe, takes over in the interim.Trump has ridiculed the investigations as a &#8220;hoax&#8221; and has denied that his campaign was involved in Russia&#8217;s meddling. In his letter to Comey, he asserted that the FBI director had informed him &#8220;on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation.&#8221;Tuesday&#8217;s stunning announcement came shortly after the FBI corrected aspects of Comey&#8217;s sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week. Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent &#8220;hundreds and thousands&#8221; of emails to her husband&#8217;s laptop, including some with classified information.On Tuesday, the FBI told the Senate Judiciary Committee that only &#8220;a small number&#8221; of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.Some lawmakers did welcome news of the dismissal.&#8220;Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well,&#8221; said Republican Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating the Russian campaign interference.Comey, 56, was nominated by President Barack Obama for the FBI post in 2013 to a 10-year term, though that appointment does not ensure a director will serve the full term.Praised frequently by both parties for his independence and integrity, Comey has spent three decades in law enforcement.But his prominent role in the 2016 presidential campaign raised questions about his judgment and impartiality. Though the FBI did not recommend charges against Clinton for mishandling classified information, Comey was blisteringly critical of her decision to use a personal email account and private internet server during her four years as secretary of state.Comey strongly defended his decisions during the hearing last week. He said he was &#8220;mildly nauseous&#8221; at the thought of having swayed the election but also said he would do the same again.Clinton has partially blamed her loss on Comey&#8217;s disclosure to Congress less than two weeks before Election Day that the email investigation would be revisited. Comey later said the FBI, again, had found no reason to bring any charges.Trump disagreed with Clinton&#8217;s assessment, tweeting that Comey actually &#8220;was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!&#8221;Clinton&#8217;s advisers were stunned by Trump&#8217;s decision Tuesday. Former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that while he believed Comey had &#8220;inflicted severe damage&#8221; on the FBI, &#8220;the timing and manner of this firing suggest that it is the product of Donald Trump feeling the heat on the ongoing Russia investigation and not a well thought out response to the inappropriate handling of the Clinton investigation.&#8221;Though Comey was well-liked within the bureau, his independent streak occasionally rankled the Obama administration, including his repeated contention that a spike in violent crime might be linked to police officer anxiety over public scrutiny.Before the past months&#8217; controversies, Comey, a former deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, was perhaps best known for a remarkable 2004 standoff with top officials over a federal domestic surveillance program.In March of that year, Comey rushed to the hospital bed of Attorney General John Ashcroft to physically stop White House officials in their bid to get his ailing boss to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.Comey described the incident in 2007 testimony to Congress, explaining that he believed the spy program put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was legally questionable.When he learned that Andrew Card, the president&#8217;s chief of staff, and Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel, were heading to Ashcroft&#8217;s hospital room despite Ashcroft&#8217;s wife&#8217;s instructions that there be no visitors, Comey told Congress, Comey beat them there and watched as Ashcroft turned them away.&#8220;That night was probably the most difficult night of my professional life,&#8221; Comey said.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">FBI Director James Comey listens on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 3, 2017. President Donald Trump has fired Comey. In a statement on Tuesday, May 9, Trump says Comey&#8217;s firing &#8220;will mark a new beginning&#8221; for the FBI. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_AP17129786324665-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>FBI Director James Comey listens on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 3, 2017. President Donald Trump has fired Comey. In a statement on Tuesday, May 9, Trump says Comey&#8217;s firing &#8220;will mark a new beginning&#8221; for the FBI. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>Associated Press</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Key moments that led up to FBI Director Comey&#8217;s firingWASHINGTON (AP) &#8212; President Donald Trump abruptly fired James Comey as director of the FBI in the midst of the law enforcement agency&#8217;s investigation into whether Trump&#8217;s presidential campaign was connected to Russian meddling in the election. In a letter to Comey, Trump said the dismissal was necessary to restore the public&#8217;s trust and confidence.Often lauded for his independence, Comey had come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his role in the agency&#8217;s investigation into the email practices of Trump&#8217;s opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the final days of last November&#8217;s election.A look at key moments in Comey&#8217;s tenure and the lead-up to Trump&#8217;s decision to fire him.___Sept. 4, 2013: Comey is sworn in to office as the seventh director of the FBI. He was nominated for the post by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate.July 5, 2016: Holds news conference to announce that &#8220;no reasonable prosecutor&#8221; would bring criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, over her email practices as secretary of state, but criticizes Clinton and her staff for being &#8220;extremely careless&#8221; in their handling of classified material.July 5, 2016: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump calls the FBI&#8217;s decision not to bring criminal charges against Clinton the greatest example yet that the system is &#8220;rigged.&#8221;July 7, 2016: Comey vigorously defends the decision not to prosecute Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Under an onslaught of Republican criticism, Comey says that to charge Clinton would have been unwarranted and mere &#8220;celebrity hunting.&#8221;Oct. 28, 2016: Days before the election, Comey informs Congress by letter that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton&#8217;s email practices based on new evidence, citing the discovery of emails on a laptop used by a top Clinton aide. Justice Department officials warned Comey against sending the letter, saying that doing so would be inconsistent with department policy meant to avoid the appearance of prosecutorial interference or meddling in elections.Oct. 28, 2016: Trump reacts to FBI&#8217;s decision to investigate new messages related to Clinton&#8217;s emails, telling a campaign rally that he has &#8220;great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong.&#8221;Nov. 6, 2016: Comey tells Congress in a follow-up letter that a review of newly discovered Clinton emails has &#8220;not changed our conclusions&#8221; that she should not face criminal charges.Nov. 6: Trump criticizes Comey&#8217;s second letter to Congress, saying Clinton was being protected by a &#8220;rigged system&#8221; and pronouncing her &#8220;guilty,&#8221; despite the FBI&#8217;s conclusion that criminal charges were unwarranted.Nov. 8, 2016: Trump is elected president.Nov. 12, 2016: During a telephone call with top campaign donors, Clinton blames Comey for her defeat by Trump. Clinton said her campaign was on track to win the election until Comey sent the letter to Congress on Oct. 28.Nov. 13, 2016: In a CBS &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; broadcast after the election, Trump said he hadn&#8217;t decided whether to keep Comey.Jan. 6, 2017: Comey is among a group of four top U.S. intelligence officials who briefed then-President-elect Donald Trump on their conclusions that Russia meddled in the presidential election on his behalf. Trump told The Associated Press by telephone after the meeting that he &#8220;learned a lot&#8221; but declined to say whether he accepted their conclusion about Russia.Jan. 22, 2017: Two days after taking office, Trump appears to single out Comey at a White House reception to thank law enforcement officers and others that helped during the inauguration. Trump called Comey over to where he was standing in the Blue Room to offer a handshake and a partial hug, then commented that Comey has &#8220;become more famous than me.&#8221;March 8, 2017: During a cybersecurity conference at Boston College, Comey said he planned to serve his entire 10-year term, quipping, &#8220;You&#8217;re stuck with me for another 6&#189; years.&#8221;March 20, 2017: Comey testifies to Congress that the FBI has been investigating possible links between Trump associates and Russian officials since July, the same month he held an unusual news conference to discuss the investigation into Clinton. Comeyhad previously refused to acknowledge the parallel Trump investigation, and his disclosure enrages Democrats who already blamed Comey for costing Clinton the presidency.March 20, 2017: Comey testifies at the same hearing that the FBI and Justice Department have no information to substantiate Trump&#8217;s unsubstantiated claim on Twitter that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him before the election.May 2, 2017: Clinton again lays part of the blame for losing the election on Comey&#8217;s Oct. 28 letter. &#8220;If the election were on Oct. 27, I would have been your president,&#8221; she tells a women&#8217;s luncheon in New York.May 3, 2017: Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey insists that he was consistent in his handling of the separate investigations into Clinton and Trump. Comey also said it made him feel &#8220;mildly nauseous&#8221; to think his actions in October might have influenced the election outcome. But he told senators: &#8220;I can&#8217;t consider for a second whose political futures will be affected and in what way. We have to ask ourselves what is the right thing to do and then do it.&#8221;May 9, 2017: Comey sends Congress a letter correcting his prior sworn testimony regarding emails handled by longtime Clinton associate Huma Abedin. Comey had told Congress that Abedin had sent &#8220;hundreds and thousands&#8221; of emails to her husband&#8217;s laptop, including some with classified information. The two-page, follow-up letter said that, in fact, only &#8220;a small number&#8221; of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices.May 9, 2017: Trump abruptly fires Comey. &#8220;It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission,&#8221; Trump states in a letter addressed to Comey.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> 32382832</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> NDN</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</videoMeta></div>

Trump fires FBI Director James Comey