Former FBI Director James Comey is "angry" that his remaining in his position was never discussed with Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before he was fired last month, ABC News reported on Friday.
"At no point in the weeks and months before Comey's termination" did either Sessions or Rosenstein "tell Comey they were uneasy about his leadership or upset" about Comey going public last year with the Hillary Clinton email probe, a source told ABC.
"He's 'angry,' the source said – "and he wants the public to understand why."
Comey is scheduled to testify in open session next Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, including President Donald Trump's reported request that he close the investigation into the Russian dealings of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Trump is considering whether to invoke executive privilege to block Comey's testimony, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday.
In his memo to Trump that the president used to justify Comey's May 9 firing, Rosenstein called Comey "an articulate and persuasive speaker."
But "I cannot defend the director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken," Rosenstein said.
"The FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them."
However, when ABC News asked a Justice Department spokeswoman whether Comey had received a chance to make the pledge, she responded: "I won’t comment on that."
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