US President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
"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," Fox news cited Trump as saying.
Trump said he fired Comey, the top US law enforcement official, over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving Hillary Clinton.
Spicer added the president’s decision was based on “the clear recommendations” of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
A search for a new permanent FBI director will begin immediately. In a message to FBI employees, Sessions said Andrew McCabe, the bureau's deputy director, had assumed the position of acting director.
