Why Was Comey Fired?

Last week, President Trump justified his decision to fire James Comey by citing a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein accusing Comey of serious mistakes in the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, however, Americans largely disagree with that rationale. Only 15 percent of the U.S. public think Trump fired Comey due to his unhappiness with the email server investigation compared to 34 percent who think he acted due to Comey's investigation into his administration's ties with Russia. The largest share of Americans, 36 percent, blame the Comey firing on a combination of reasons.