Not sure that was the reason. My guess is that Trump is circling the wagons re. the Russian espionage investigation.

Is Trump afraid of what Comey might do to him? Will Comey come clean?

See also my comment on the other thread...

"I guess Comey suffered the fate of every other Trump voter and supporter, which is a big f**k you unless you are rich and powerful and from Russia or China.

I almost feel sorry for them, but when you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas. They made their bed, etc."

Also see Trump's dismissal letter to Comey. Apparently Comey lied to Trump about the Russian investigation. Or so Trump says. Not sure who's the bigger liar. Oh, wait, yeah, pretty sure.

Still waiting for a good reason to have an independent commission investigate this situation./s

Rumor is Comey heard about his firing on tv

Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes at lawfare
The Nightmare Scenario: Trump Fires Comey, the One Man Who Would Stand Up to Him

It’s a neat trick: stymie the Russia investigation by siding with Hillary Clinton. Put another way, what if you had a Saturday Night Massacre and liberals cheered because they hated Archibald Cox?

The question before us now is whether Trump will get away with it. There is no question that the President has the legal authority to remove the FBI director. But there’s also no question that removing the FBI Director in the midst of a high-stakes investigation of Russian influence in the inner circle of the President’s campaign and White House is a horrifying breach of every expectation we have of the relationship between the White House and federal law enforcement.

On the positive side of things. An awful lot of the good citizens that have previously had trouble trusting the government are completely accepting of the official explanation of Comey's firing.

As long as the establishment Dems are more concerned with silencing the Progressives than getting the balance back in the system, Trump has a really good chance of getting away with all of this shit.

edit: I stole the verbiage below 3rd hand. I did not research it and there are plenty of things in that list of which I know nothing.

As someone in Facebook commented....

The response from Trumpsters? "He's draining the Democratic swamp" and "But Clinton's emails!!"

Elizabeth Warren: James Comey Was Fired Because Of The Russians

CNN: Behind the scenes of James Comey's epic firing

NYT: In Trump’s Firing of James Comey, Echoes of Watergate

This was an amazingly fast leak:

He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.

Politico, posted by midnight and reported even earlier

There aren't enough Trump cronies in the world to staff the White House and keep them from leaking this stuff in horror. Wait until the FBI gets up off its ass and goes from denial to anger (and they will). McConnell is not going to be able to ignore it for long.

It seems something pretty big is being hidden

Big enough that some folks are scared, both inside the White House, and outside of it.

I assume neither Trump nor McConnell gets to decide if the Russian ties are investigated or if a special prosecutor is convened. Considering the circumstances, Trump should have zero say in it.

sending a message to the rest of the FBI to desist with their investigation.

There are two reasons why President Donald Trump fired James Comey, according to a source close to the now-former FBI director:

1. Comey never provided the President with any assurance of personal loyalty.
2. The fact that the FBI's investigation into possible Trump team collusion with Russia in the 2016 election was accelerating.

Source close to Comey says there were 2 reasons the FBI director was fired

But.... Sarah Huckabee whatever her last name is said today that Comey committed "atrocities."

I mean, come on, atrocities. That would get anybody fired.

Sheesh.

I hadn't realized until last night that Trump had long employed (and still employs) a personal bodyguard.

Am I to understand that this guy was not incorporated into the SS when
he arrived on Pennsylvania Avenue? Does this practice of having some lone wolf stand guard, above and beyond the president's SS protection, have any precedent???

(link...)

I'm working on a story tonight. TV's on, and this Trump scandal is moving like a wildfire.

I'm now hearing that Rosenstein is pissed at the way the administration is using his name.

Just saw John Dean say that Watergate lasted 900-some days after the burglary arrests. This scandal's moving at warp speed. Get ready for President Pence (shudder)

(link...)

Comey heard the news while giving a speech

Mr. Comey was addressing a group of F.B.I. employees in Los Angeles when a television in the background flashed the news that he had been fired.

In response, Mr. Comey laughed, saying he thought it was a fairly funny prank.

Then his staff started scurrying around in the background and told Mr. Comey that he should step into a nearby office.

The not so funny prank is that voters elected Trump.

Spicer melts down

he went to his doorway and yelled the news to the journalists gathered there
...
Aides said he would speak to press about the termination... then changed their answers and said he wouldn't.

Outside, Spicer appeared on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs, at times stuttering and misspeaking, at one point saying the attorney general had been terminated before quickly correcting himself.
...
"Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes" while his press assistants negotiated the terms of a briefing. He stepped out, and asked for the lights on set to be turned off.

(link...)

Translated by an English Lit major.