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The Last President To Fire An FBI Director? Clinton
The only other president to fire an FBI director was Bill Clinton in the summer of 1993. During Clinton’s first few months in office, he repeatedly asked FBI director William Sessions, a President Ronald Reagan appointee, to resign in the wake of numerous ethics allegations from the Department of Justice.
Sessions was known for outrageous personal use of FBI travel resources, and had lost the trust of his own bureau. A Justice Department report from January 1993 alleged that Sessions routinely used FBI planes and cars and staff time for personal use. According to the report, he allegedly ordered his bodyguards to fly a load of firewood from New York to Washington, D.C., commissioned FBI technicians to build a $22,500 cabinet for his office, and would fly to Los Angeles, Calif., once a year on FBI an plane to watch his daughter’s professional ballet performances.
Sessions contended the report was riddled with errors and politically motivated. The New York Times reported at the time that Sessions had run afoul of President George H.W. Bush’s administration.
Many Democrats who previously called for Comey’s removal expressed shock at Trump’s abrupt move Tuesday, calling it troubling, Nixonian, or even a constitutional crisis in light of investigations into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Of course, Sessions ethics were not the real reason he was fired. Anyone remember what was going on at the time?
Washingtonpost.com: Whitewater Time Line
May 1993
White House fires seven employees in the travel office, possibly to make room for Clinton friends. An FBI investigation of the office ensues, allegedly opened under pressure from the White House to justify the firings.
June 1993
Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster files three years of delinquent Whitewater corporate tax returns.
July 1993
Foster is found dead in a Washington area park. Police rule the death a suicide. Federal investigators are not allowed access to Foster's office immediately after the discovery, but White House aides enter Foster's office shortly after his death, giving rise to speculation that files were removed from his office.
Sessions was fired July 19th, 1993.
September 1993
First of three meetings in which Treasury Department officials tip off Clinton aides about the progress of the RTC investigation.
Any idea who was also involved as a deputy special council to the Senate Whitewater Committee?
James Comey!
Comey’s first brush with them came when Bill Clinton was president. Looking to get back into government after a stint in private practice, Comey signed on as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee. In 1996, after months of work, Comey came to some damning conclusions: Hillary Clinton was personally involved in mishandling documents and had ordered others to block investigators as they pursued their case. Worse, her behavior fit into a pattern of concealment: she and her husband had tried to hide their roles in two other matters under investigation by law enforcement. Taken together, the interference by White House officials, which included destruction of documents, amounted to “far more than just aggressive lawyering or political naiveté,” Comey and his fellow investigators concluded. It constituted “a highly improper pattern of deliberate misconduct.”
Inside the FBI Investigation of Hillary Clinton's E-Mail
The Clinton's have never changed. The email scandal with Hillary mirrors almost exactly what went on with Whitewater. At that time, Comey also layed out a criminal case but again nothing happened. This is just too deja vu!
The only other president to fire an FBI director was Bill Clinton in the summer of 1993. During Clinton’s first few months in office, he repeatedly asked FBI director William Sessions, a President Ronald Reagan appointee, to resign in the wake of numerous ethics allegations from the Department of Justice.
Sessions was known for outrageous personal use of FBI travel resources, and had lost the trust of his own bureau. A Justice Department report from January 1993 alleged that Sessions routinely used FBI planes and cars and staff time for personal use. According to the report, he allegedly ordered his bodyguards to fly a load of firewood from New York to Washington, D.C., commissioned FBI technicians to build a $22,500 cabinet for his office, and would fly to Los Angeles, Calif., once a year on FBI an plane to watch his daughter’s professional ballet performances.
Sessions contended the report was riddled with errors and politically motivated. The New York Times reported at the time that Sessions had run afoul of President George H.W. Bush’s administration.
Many Democrats who previously called for Comey’s removal expressed shock at Trump’s abrupt move Tuesday, calling it troubling, Nixonian, or even a constitutional crisis in light of investigations into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Of course, Sessions ethics were not the real reason he was fired. Anyone remember what was going on at the time?
Washingtonpost.com: Whitewater Time Line
May 1993
White House fires seven employees in the travel office, possibly to make room for Clinton friends. An FBI investigation of the office ensues, allegedly opened under pressure from the White House to justify the firings.
June 1993
Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster files three years of delinquent Whitewater corporate tax returns.
July 1993
Foster is found dead in a Washington area park. Police rule the death a suicide. Federal investigators are not allowed access to Foster's office immediately after the discovery, but White House aides enter Foster's office shortly after his death, giving rise to speculation that files were removed from his office.
Sessions was fired July 19th, 1993.
September 1993
First of three meetings in which Treasury Department officials tip off Clinton aides about the progress of the RTC investigation.
Any idea who was also involved as a deputy special council to the Senate Whitewater Committee?
James Comey!
Comey’s first brush with them came when Bill Clinton was president. Looking to get back into government after a stint in private practice, Comey signed on as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee. In 1996, after months of work, Comey came to some damning conclusions: Hillary Clinton was personally involved in mishandling documents and had ordered others to block investigators as they pursued their case. Worse, her behavior fit into a pattern of concealment: she and her husband had tried to hide their roles in two other matters under investigation by law enforcement. Taken together, the interference by White House officials, which included destruction of documents, amounted to “far more than just aggressive lawyering or political naiveté,” Comey and his fellow investigators concluded. It constituted “a highly improper pattern of deliberate misconduct.”
Inside the FBI Investigation of Hillary Clinton's E-Mail
The Clinton's have never changed. The email scandal with Hillary mirrors almost exactly what went on with Whitewater. At that time, Comey also layed out a criminal case but again nothing happened. This is just too deja vu!