Trump fires FBI director

President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey, sweeping away the man who is responsible for the bureau's investigation into whether members of his campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's election. The Trump administration attributed Comey's dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email server, but Democrats ridiculed that notion, suggesting Comey was getting too close to the White House with the Russia probe. In recent days, Comey again came under fire for his handling of the investigation into Clinton's private email server. Many Democrats believe that his announcement that he was reopening the probe 11 days before the election cost the former secretary of state the presidency. However, Comey being fired now makes it easy for critics to conclude it was because of the Russia probe. Comey learned of his dismissal from televisions tuned to the news, as he was addressing the workforce at the FBI office in Los Angeles. Sources said he made a joke about it to lighten the mood and called his office to get confirmation. In a signed letter released by the White House, Trump informed Comey that he was "hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately."

In Other News Liberal reformer Moon Jae-in was sworn in Wednesday as the new South Korean president after winning a snap election to replace impeached President Park Geun-hye. Moon has advocated dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in stark contrast to Park's approach of tough sanctions and aggressive rhetoric. Members of the Senate Armed Services committee are waiting to hear from President Donald Trump about how he and his military want to handle the situation in Afghanistan, but lawmakers appear open to the idea of sending additional forces to the region. The final proposals for a planned troop increase in Afghanistan are expected to cross Trump's desk this week. US officials say the likely range for the US troop increase in Afghanistan is between 3,000 and 5,000 troops, but could be as low as 1,500. The increase would be to accelerate training missions for Afghan forces and well as to fight the Taliban. It is unclear when Trump will make a formal decision.