Donald Trump says Washington will thank him for firing the head of the FBI.
The US President has been tweeting about his controversial decision to remove James Comey, a move which has led to echoes of Watergate.
In a statement released last night, the White House said James Comey ‘has been terminated and removed from office’.
Officially, it was because he was deemed to have mishandled the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
But Democrats say he was sacked because he was leading the investigation into alleged links between Russia and the Trump election campaign.
Speaking to CNN, Senior advisor to Trump, Kellyanne Conway has denied that’s the case.
During the campaign, then candidate Trump welcomed the investigation into Hilary Clinton’s emails.
An intervention by James Comey just weeks before the vote, announcing that it was being re-opened was seen as key by many in costing her the win.
In the last hour, President Trump has said James Comey had lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington and he believes people will thank him “when things calm down.”
Until then though, questions will be asked about the true motivation behind this surprise move, and what it will ultimately mean for the FBI’s investigation intro the Trump campaign’s alleged links with Russia.
Professor Scott Lucas from Birmingham University believes this is the biggest political issue in the US since Watergate.
