Many critics of President Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James Comey compared the move to Nixon firing the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation in 1973.
But there’s a more recent comparison for Trump’s unusual course of action. Only one FBI director has ever been fired and that was William Sessions, who was fired in 1993 by then-president Bill Clinton.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe reminded viewers of that piece of recent history Wednesday morning, airing footage of Tom Brokaw reporting on Sessions’ firing July 19, 1993.
“It was a three-alarm day in Washington with the president finally announcing his compromise policy for gays in the military one hour and firing the FBI director the next,” Brokaw says in the archival clip, which also featured footage of Clinton speaking about Sessions’ departure in a press conference.
firing Judge Ito halfway through the trial,” said Jimmy Kimmel.”]
“After a thorough review by the attorney general of Mr. Sessions’ leadership of the FBI, she has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau and law enforcement community,” Clinton said at the presser, where he was accompanied by Janet Reno.
Reno had requested Sessions step aside after he was accused of using business trips for personal gatherings, billing the government for a fence he built around his house and avoiding paying taxes on the use of an FBI limo for his daily commute.
Watch the Morning Joe clip below.
