Trump cited 'turmoil' at the FBI when he fired Comey -- but internal reviews prove otherwise

President Donald Trump claimed that he fired former FBI Director James Comey because he was unpopular in the department -- but years of internal employee surveys at the bureau tell a different story.

According to a report by the New York Times, three years worth of internal surveys released recently by the FBI reveal that agents scored bureau leadership as "successful" -- negating Trump's claims that the bureau was "in turmoil" under Comey's reign.

“He’s a showboat, he’s a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil,” Trump said in May. “You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasn’t recovered from that.”

Over the three-and-a-half years Comey led the bureau, agents "scored him above 4 [out of 5] as both an inspiring leader and someone more interested in leading than being liked. His direct subordinates rated him 4.48 on the question of whether they would work with him again."

In those surveys, Comey scored higher than former FBI director and current special counsel Robert Mueller, who preceded him in leading the bureau.