President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff John Kelly called ousted FBI Director James Comey shortly after Trump fired Comey in May to express his anger, CNN reported Monday.
Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the conversation, CNN reported that Kelly told Comey he had considered resigning over the ouster. Comey told him not to resign, one unnamed source said.
“John was angry and hurt by what he saw and the way (Comey) was treated,” a source told CNN.
Kelly was sworn in as White House chief of staff on Monday.
CNN’s sources said, in the news outlet’s words, that Comey and Kelly “had a professional relationship and a deep mutual respect for each other.”
The Trump administration released multiple conflicting justifications for Comey’s firing, though Trump himself has said the it came as a result of his frustration over Comey’s handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates.
Trump wrote Monday morning that there is “No WH chaos!” However, recent staffing changes have expressed the opposite: Anthony Scaramucci was dismissed as White House communications director Monday after only 10 days on the job. Before that, White House press secretary Sean Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus resigned within a week of each other.
This post has been updated.
