When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017, the White House said Trump “acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions” and specifically cited Rosenstein’s disapproval of Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation.
But in the termination letter Trump sent to Comey, the president wrote, “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau," indicating the president had at least some concern with the Russia investigation in mind at the time.
Then in a television interview with Lester Holt two days later, Trump admitted he was going to fire Comey regardless of recommendations, specifically citing the Russia probe.
Almost a year later – on May 2, 2018 – Trump's new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tells Sean Hannity a new story as to why the president fired Comey, lying about the Lester Holt interview in the process.
The next day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders offers up yet another set of explanations for the president's actions.
First she says the president has the right to hire and fire at will and did not need a reason to get rid of Comey. But then she claims he was fired for "lying, leaking and politicizing the FBI."
However, when pushed on this assertion a little later on in the press conference, Sanders struggles to come up with specifics.