Thursday's Headlines: Before Comey’s firing, Trump’s animus toward him boiled over into fury, officials say

Comey sought more resources for Russia probe days before firing, officials say; Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas documents from Michael Flynn in Russia probe; The Fix: James Comey's farewell letter to his FBI colleagues, annotated; Trump's efforts to shake his Russia problem only make it worse; Why Trump expected only applause when he told Comey, 'You're fired';   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Before Comey's firing, Trump's animus toward him boiled over into fury, officials say Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein threatened to quit after being cast as the impetus of James Comey's dismissal, which was already decided, a source close to the White House said. Accounts from more than 30 officials at the White House, Justice Department and on Capitol Hill indicate that the president was angry that the FBI director would not support his baseless claim that President Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped. And he fumed that Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to investigating leaks to journalists. By Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sari Horwitz and Robert Costa  •  Read more » Comey sought more resources for Russia probe days before firing, officials say As furor grew, Republicans and Democrats said the FBI director's dismissal will frustrate bipartisan efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election. By Elise Viebeck, Ed O'Keefe, Sean Sullivan and Paul Kane  •  Read more »   Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas documents from Michael Flynn in Russia probe It is the first subpoena the committee has announced in the course of its Russia investigation. President Trump's former national security adviser had declined the committee's request for materials it wanted to review, the committee said. By Karoun Demirjian  •  Read more »   The Fix: James Comey's farewell letter to his FBI colleagues, annotated "It is done, and I will be fine," he wrote. By Callum Borchers  •  Read more »   Debrief Trump's efforts to shake his Russia problem only make it worse White House officials maintain that the FBI director's firing had nothing to do with his agency's Russia investigation but, rather, with his handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails. But the president's letter terminating James Comey alluded to the questions surrounding his administration and made no mention of Comey's much-criticized decisions involving Clinton. By Karen Tumulty  •  Read more »   Why Trump expected only applause when he told Comey, 'You're fired' For a president who operates in the moment, the decision to fire the FBI director illustrates a penchant to act swiftly and unilaterally, and a belief that there is no profit in considering the lessons and contradictions of the past. By Marc Fisher  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Opinions   Comey is gone. Now what happens to the FBI? By Charles Lane  •  Read more »   These Republicans could set the Comey disaster right By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   Trump's violations of federalism would make Obama jealous By George F. Will  •  Read more »   Why did Trump really fire Comey? Only a special counsel can tell us. By Adam B. Schiff  •  Read more »   Mitch McConnell may be making the most important mistake of his career By E.J. Dionne Jr.  •  Read more »   How to stop racism from winning on college campuses By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   After saving the GOP health-care bill, this congressman got an earful from constituents Rep. Tom MacArthur slugged through two hours of hostile questions on everything from the firing of FBI Director James Comey to whether the remodeled American Health Care Act would punish women who had been the victims of rape. By David Weigel  •  Read more » Atomic town revels in plutonium past as tunnel failure fuels contamination fears Some residents near the Hanford nuclear site, where a tunnel storing contaminated equipment caved in, have no concerns about the Washington state facility. Others worry about failing infrastructure and radiation exposure. By Leah Sottile, Lindsey Bever and Steven Mufson  •  Read more » Racist note that led to protests at Minnesota college was fake, school says St. Olaf College saw days of demonstrations and canceled classes after the message surfaced, following other reports of hate speech. But investigators confirmed that the threatening note was "not a genuine threat," officials said. By Peter Holley and Lindsey Bever  •  Read more » The Fix | Analysis Disapproval of Trump at its highest yet A Quinnipiac University poll shows the president's favorable rating at 35 percent, its lowest so far. Meanwhile, the percentage who strongly disapprove of him has reached a high of 51 percent. By Aaron Blake  •  Read more » Russian convicted of inciting religious hatred after playing 'Pokémon Go' Ruslan Sokolovsky, who played the game in a renowned Orthodox cathedral, was given a suspended sentence. He had been charged under a law inspired by the scandalous punk band Pussy Riot. By David Filipov  •  Read more » United flier says crew forced her to urinate in cup on 'worst flight' ever The airline said the woman tried to visit the restroom on the plane's descent and was told to remain seated with her seat belt on. United said its crew did not tell her to use a cup. By Peter Holley  •  Read more » Analysis SNL has a lot to work with this week With three days still to go before "Saturday Night Live" airs with Melissa McCarthy as the scheduled guest host, the news cycle has already produced many eye-popping items. By Elahe Izadi  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. 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