Comey addressed senators last week to explain for the first time why he decided to reopen the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server so close to election day.

The decision was made after investigators discovered a trove of emails during a separate investigation into the ex-husband of a top Clinton aide.

In timing that could raise eyebrows, the president will meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov tomorrow at the White House.

The meeting will take place less than 24 hours after Trump fired the man leading the FBI investigation into his campaign's ties with Russia.

Image source, Reuters

A local news helicopter is following Comey's vehicle through LA traffic as he makes his way to the airport. 

He was scheduled to speak at an FBI recruitment event but the event has been cancelled, US media report. 

Statement from Democratic senator Ben Cardin, who echoes Chuck Schumer's call for a special prosecutor into the Russia scandal.

“There is little President Trump does anymore that surprises me, but that he would fire the lead investigator into collusion between Russia and Trump campaign officials is beyond the pale – even for him. This is the biggestevidence to date of why we need an independent commission to investigate Russia’s interference in our election. We also need a special prosecutor to complete the ongoing criminal probe, now that the president has undermined the integrity of the FBI’s investigation.

“There is no doubt that President Trump is threatened by the investigations of Russia's ties to his campaign. His actions reinforce the need for a nonpartisan commission to work full-time on behalf of the American people to figure out who did what, when and why. The American people are entitled to answers.”

In response to criticism of the dismissal by top Democrat Chuck Schumer, White House aides handed out a briefing note detailing times Schumer had criticised Comey in the past.

A tweet from Politico's Eric Geller from March has not aged well. 

Reporters had gathered at the White House amid rumours of an off-camera briefing with spokesman Sean Spicer, but it turned out to be a red herring.

Members of the media were instead handed copies of the letter sent to Mr Comey.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said that Comey's firing "raises massive questions, and the Senate should get to the bottom of it". 

"America needs to have confidence that the Department of Justice will fill its traditional role of following the facts fearlessly, and prosecuting whomever has violated the law no matter the office they hold," he said.

Senator Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating the Trump team's ties to Russia, has released this statement attacking Trump's decision.

Washington analysts see his criticism as a significant development, since he is the most senior Republican so far to question Trump's decision.

Comey was addressing staff in LA ahead of a recruitment event when he was handed a note by one of his team telling him he had been fired. He read the note, then broke the news to his staff.

Our correspondent David Willis sends this image of reporters who have rushed to a recruitment event that Comey had been scheduled to attend. No word yet on if that event is still going ahead as planned.

No fan of Comey's, whistleblower Edward Snowden tweets to criticise the sacking nonetheless.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Here is the heart of what Mr Comey describes as his "painful" dilemma. Once he decided to reopen the investigation, he believed that doing nothing would effectively be active concealment.

In the ensuing days and months, Mr Comey's critics have said silence would not only have been in keeping with Justice Department policy, it would have been the prudent move given that the director did not know what the Weiner laptop contained.

Mr Comey - perhaps because he knew the investigation would leak to the press anyway or possibly because he feared the emails could reveal Clinton misdeeds after she had won the presidency - decided otherwise.

Full article here.

Richard Nixon's presidential library is effectively trolling on Twitter, pointing out that the disgraced former president managed not to fire the director of the FBI.

Trump's dismissal of Comey drew widespread comparisons with Nixon's actions over the Watergate scandal, leading 'Nixonian' to trend on Twitter.

#Watergate is also trending on Twitter.

Letters of Note, which publishes historical letters, tweeted Nixon's resignation letter. The comparison isn't going away.

The first that FBI staff knew of the sacking was from televisions in the office, the BBC's Jon Sopel reports.

Trump may have been looking for a week for an excuse to fire the FBI director, according to Anthony Zurcher.

Associated Press reports on a possible meeting on Wednesday between Trump and Sergei Lavrov, a top aide to Vladimir Putin.

The timing, the day after firing the FBI director who was leading an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian influence, could raise eyebrows.

Gary O'Donoghue
Washington Correspondent

FBI directors are given a ten year term - and James Comey has been fired after less than four. 

In a letter to Mr Comey, Donald Trump said "It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission", going on to say, "you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau." 

Separate documents released by the White House curiously point to James Comey's handling of Hillary Clinton's email server problems during the campaign - something Democrats see as having benefited Mr Trump's candidacy. 

In particular, the documents describe Mr Comey's decision to hold a press conference last July, announcing Mrs Clinton had been "extremely careless in her handling of very classified information" as a text book example of how what federal prosecutors should not do. 

But later in the campaign, Mr Trump praised the director for announcing a fresh probe into Mrs Clinton, only ten days before election day. 

What hangs over all this is the fact that the FBI is currently investigating the Trump campaign over possible coordination with Russia during the election - and many of his opponents will find that conflict impossible to ignore.

The word Nixonian is trending, as tweeters and politicians draw comparisons between the unfolding political crisis and Nixon's Watergate scandal. 

You can watch Chuck Schumers full remarks via our Facebook live below, and click through to join the discussion.

Top Democractic senator Chuck Schumer is speaking live. He called for a special prosectutor.

"If Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein does not appoint an independent special prosecutor, every American will likely suspect the decision to fire Comey was part of a cover up," he said.

He said it was "troubling" that Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the Russia investigation, was involved in the decision.

He added: "Why did they fire him today?", he said. "Were these investigation getting too close to home for the president?"