Firing of Comey Sparked FBI Probe Into Whether Trump Was Acting as an Asset of Russia’s Putin

The FBI pushed to keep alive James Comey’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election because President Trump fired the then-FBI director in 2017, documents released Wednesday by the White House show. Worried FBI officials suggested the move was proof .The memorandum released Wednesday by journalist John Solomon, who now serves on a presidential task force investigating election integrity, notes that the probe known as “Oxferd Comma” aimed to determine whether Mr. Trump was “directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes.” That memo is dated May 16, 2017, a week after Mr. Comey was fired. “Oxferd Comma” eventually became a subcomponent of “Crossfire Hurricane,” the sprawling investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election launched by Mr. Comey in July 2016 and eventually led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. That investigation ended in 2019. It is not immediately clear why “Oxford” is misspelled. The release puts into sharp relief the ongoing effort to convict Mr. Comey, whom Mr. Trump calls a “dirty cop.” On Wednesday Mr. Solomon asked on X, “Should Special U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova treat the opening of Oxferd Comma as an overt act in a criminal conspiracy to violate President Trump’s civil liberties?” President Obama had appointed Mr. Comey in 2013 to be the FBI director. Mr. Comey began probing candidate Trump’s ties to Vladimir Putin in July 2016 after Mr. Trump cinched the Republican nomination for the presidency. Early in his first term, Mr. Trump cited Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server while secretary of state — a central issue in the general election race — as grounds for his firing. On May 9, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was in charge of the Department of Justice while then-Attorney General, Jeff Sessions recused himself from the case, had recommended that Mr. Trump fire Mr. Comey. “Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly. I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong,” he wrote. However, Mr. Rosenstein, a longtime prosecutor, appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel to expand the probe a week after Mr. Comey was removed. One memo declassified on Wednesday claimed that “Based on the facts and circumstances provided to date, the FBI believes that opening this investigation is the least intrusive method to address the serious national security risk posed by the activities alleged.” Oxferd Comma also sought to “determine whether President Trump and others yet to be named obstructed and/or conspiracy (sic) to obstruct any associated FBI investigation.” The Crossfire Hurricane probe, of which Oxferd Comma was a piece, closed on April 9, 2019. Nine days later, Mr. Mueller’s final report concluded that Russia sought to influence the election through a disinformation campaign and by hacking of Democratic Party emails. Mr. Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with Moscow. He did not recommend that Mr. Trump ought to be criminally charged. In that report, Mr. Mueller reckoned that Mr. Comey was fired because he would not publicly declare that Mr. Trump was free from personal investigation into Russian influence. The president claimed that he was “totally exonerated.”In September 2025 Mr. Comey was charged with lying to Congress in 2020 about leaks relating to the investigation into Russian interference. Those charges were handed up days before the expiration of the statutes of limitations. The case was eventually dismissed when Judge Cameron McGown Currie found that the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. That also led to the dismissal of the bank fraud case against New York’s attorney general, Letitia James.In April, Mr. Comey was charged for a second time, this time for posting a photograph of seashells arranged on a beach in an “86 47” formation that the Department of Justice alleges threatened the president’s life. Mr. Comey has proclaimed his innocence and has moved to dismiss the case on the basis of the First Amendment’s protection of political speech.

Firing of Comey Sparked FBI Probe Into Whether Trump Was Acting as an Asset of Russia’s Putin

Firing of Comey Sparked FBI Probe Into Whether Trump Was Acting as an Asset of Russia’s Putin

More from the New York Sun

The Bittersweet Sound of the Dominican Republic

Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Nears Settlement as California Exit Threat Looms

Seoul Denies Ruling Out Cooperation With Americans in War With Iran

The Past Is a Spellbinding Open Book

Religion, Guns, and Brewskis Highlight Packed Supreme Court Schedule

Up To 20 New Yorkers Already ‘Assisted To Die’ in First Month of New Law, Sun Investigation Discovers

Still Legal, Still Used: America’s Schools Still Paddle Students in 2026

Iraq’s ‘Iron Woman,’ Once Honored by Biden’s State Department, Now Appears on U.S. Terror Watchlist

More from the New York Sun

The Bittersweet Sound of the Dominican Republic

Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Nears Settlement as California Exit Threat Looms

Seoul Denies Ruling Out Cooperation With Americans in War With Iran

The Past Is a Spellbinding Open Book

Religion, Guns, and Brewskis Highlight Packed Supreme Court Schedule

Up To 20 New Yorkers Already ‘Assisted To Die’ in First Month of New Law, Sun Investigation Discovers

Still Legal, Still Used: America’s Schools Still Paddle Students in 2026

Iraq’s ‘Iron Woman,’ Once Honored by Biden’s State Department, Now Appears on U.S. Terror Watchlist