Trump to James Comey: ‘You’re fired’

President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday evening, saying in a letter to Comey that the dismissal was necessary because the director is “not able to effectively lead the Bureau” and that new leadership was needed to restore “public trust and confidence” in the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

“The FBI is one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions, and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement,” the president said in a statement.

Trump said he was acting on the advice of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The firing, which was effective immediately, comes just hours after ProPublica reported that Comey grossly exaggerated his testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Comey testified that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded “hundreds and thousands” of emails, including classified communications, to her husband Anthony Weiner’s laptop so he could print them.

Later on Tuesday, the FBI sent a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that corrected a sentence in Comey’s testimony, saying only “a small number” of the thousands of emails found on Weiner’s laptop had been forwarded there while most were likely inadvertently uploaded when Abedin backed up her Blackberry. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

President Barack Obama nominated Comey, 56, to a 10-year term to lead the FBI in 2013.

The White House announced that a search for a new FBI director was beginning immediately.