FBI Director James Comey has been fired

WASHINGTON (ABC NEWS)- FBI Director James Comey has been fired, according to the White House.

“Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office,” the White House statement reads.

“President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions,” the statement said.

President Trump has previously been critical of Comey, suggesting that his actions helped Hillary Clinton during the campaign, while Clinton blamed Comey and his late announcement about the FBI’s investigation into her email server contributed to her electoral college loss.

“FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?” Trump wrote in two tweets on May 2.

In the wake of those tweets, press secretary Sean Spicer said “the president has confidence in the director” on May 3.

Comey, 56, was appointed to head the FBI in September 2013 by then-President Barack Obama. FBI directors typically serve a 10-year term, and his firing today means that he will have only served less than four years. Prior to that, he served as a deputy attorney general and a state’s attorney.