Trump: Comey firing a very good thing

Washington   :  The US President on Thursday said that his firing of former FBI Director James Comey will go down as a "very good thing" for the country after the latter attacked Donald Trump over his treatment of the agency's agents.

In an interview with "Fox and Friends", Trump was asked how Republicans will explain their attacks on law enforcement and the Justice Department to their grandchildren.

"Well, I'd actually say -- how is (Comey) going to explain to his grandchildren all of the lies, the deceit, all of the problems he has caused for this country?" Trump asked. 

"I think of the things that I've done for the country, the firing of James Comey is going to go down as a very good thing." 

Trump went on to praise individual agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which he had earlier attacked as being part of a conspiracy to undermine his presidency, before saying that "rotten apples" in senior leadership positions needed to be removed, the Hill magazine reported.

"The FBI is great. I know so many people in the FBI. The FBI is a fantastic institution, but some of the people at the top were rotten apples," Trump said.

"James Comey was one of them. I've done a great service for this country by getting rid of him, by firing him."

Trump and Comey have battled on Twitter and in the media since the former FBI chief's string of media appearances to promote his book, "A Higher Loyalty", earlier this year. In his appearances, Comey characterized Trump as "dishonest and a threat to American values".

"Facts matter. The FBI's use of Confidential Human Sources (the actual term) is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country," Comey tweeted on Wednesday. "Attacks on the FBI and lying about its work will do lasting damage to our country."

Trump fired Comey in 2017, telling NBC's Lester Holt at the time that the investigation into his campaign's alleged ties to Russia, which Comey oversaw, was on his mind.