James Comey reportedly found out he was fired from TV reports

Former FBI Director James Comey was addressing employees in Los Angeles when a news report  announced that he was fired, reports say.

President Donald Trump fired Comey Tuesday, on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, for his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

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New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt said Trump’s letter was delivered only after Comey had found out about the firing from a TV news report. New York Magazine reporter Yashar Ali said a source in the FBI office in LA told him the same thing.

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READ MORE: How and why Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey

Comey first thought the news was a prank, New York Times reported.

Several senior officials within the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department said they were given no advance notice of the firing ahead of the press release, according to Tom Winter of NBC News.

L.A. Times reporter Colleen Shalby said earlier in the day that Comey was expected to speak at a recruitment event for the FBI – but it is unclear if this is where he found out about the news.