Another top FBI official who helped oversee the Trump-Russia and Clinton email investigations is retiring, as the last traces of the bureau’s embattled leadership team that once stood under Barack Obama’s presidency disappear.
The official, Bill Priestap, will retire from his post as assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division by the end of the year.
“Assistant Director Bill Priestap became eligible to retire and has chosen to do so after 20 years of service,” an FBI spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday.
Priestap, who participated in the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and the FBI’s initial probe into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 presidential election, has testified before Congress on multiple occasions regarding the bureau’s handling of both investigations.
(Reuters)
His departure, which reportedly was unrelated to the controversies surrounding those investigations, is significant, as it marks the de facto end of the Obama-era leadership team — which has been steadily disbanding since the early months of the Trump administration amid a combination of firings and retirements.
Here’s a look at other top FBI officials who have since left the bureau, or been removed:
Former FBI Director James Comey
James Comey, the highest-profile of the lot, was the first to go, though he has remained in the spotlight ever since his departure. President Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017, after a recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who pegged his advice on Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation, though other factors are suspected of playing a role.
Comey has been hit with scrutiny from both sides of the aisle over the bureau’s handling of the Clinton probe. Comey first announced in July 2016, during the heat of the presidential race, that he would recommend no charges against the former secretary of state while calling her handling of classified information on her server “extremely careless.” But just days before voters cast their presidential ballots, on Oct. 28 2016, Comey unilaterally announced he would re-open the investigation due to new emails uncovered on the laptop of Anthony Weiner—the husband of Clinton confidante Huma Abedin. Clinton and Democrats have argued that his actions contributed to her loss.
When Trump took office, Comey decided to memorialize conversations between the two regarding the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling. One of the memos detailed a conversation the two had in February 2017 regarding Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and his communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. According to Comey’s memo, Trump asked that the former director shut down the investigation into Flynn, allegedly making the infamous statement: “I hope you can let this go.”
Comey ultimately shared the memos with his friend, Columbia Law School Professor Daniel Richman, who now serves as his attorney, with the intention of Richman leaking the memos to the press to spur the appointment of a special counsel. One week after Comey was fired, Rosenstein, who oversaw the Justice Department Russia investigation after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate.
Comey is slated to return to Capitol Hill in the coming days, appearing before the…
