Why did President Trump fire James Comey? The initial explanation offered by the administration on Tuesday night was that the FBI director had mishandled the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server, dating back to a public appearance by Comey back in July 2016—10 months ago. It had nothing to do, the hastily assembled spokespeople for the White House said, with the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election. And on Wednesday, Trump himself gave reporters a more straightforward reason. “He wasn’t doing a good job,” the president said. “Very simple. He wasn’t doing a good job.”

Reporting by the New York Times and the Washington Post suggests another story. Trump’s displeasure with Comey, who was first appointed to the job in 2013 by President Obama, had grown over the last weeks and months, reaching a tipping point last weekend. It began, the Times reports, after Comey told a congressional hearing in March that he had “no information” to show the Obama administration had ordered a wiretap of Trump or his associates during the campaign, something President Trump had earlier that month claimed.