President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey, sweeping away the man who is responsible for the bureau's investigation into whether members of his campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's election.

The bombshell announcement that sent shock and surprise ricocheting through Washington ends the career of the man who was once seen as the unimpeachable and nonpartisan ideal of how a law enforcement officer should behave. But Comey saw his reputation tarnished when he was dragged into the toxic politics of the 2016 campaign.

The Trump administration attributed Comey's dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email server, but Democrats ridiculed that notion, raising parallels to Watergate-era firings and suggested Comey was getting too close to the White House with the Russia probe.

In any case, senior White House officials appeared to have badly misjudged the impact of Trump's sudden move. A source with knowledge of discussions inside the White House told CNN's Dana Bash that the thinking was that because Democrats were saying precisely what Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a letter explaining the grounds for Comey's dismissal, there would be no backlash.

What was not thought through, apparently, was an explanation of why Comey was fired now, at a time when critics would immediately conclude it was because of the Russia probe.

In recent days, Comey again came under fire for his handling of the investigation into Clinton's private email server. Many Democrats believe that his announcement that he was reopening the probe 11 days before the election cost the former secretary of state the presidency.

Trump referred to Democrats' criticism of Comey Wednesday morning, tweeting, "The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!"

Comey learned of his dismissal from televisions tuned to the news, as he was addressing the workforce at the FBI office in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources said. The source said he made a joke about it to lighten the mood and called his office to get confirmation.

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone was among those who recommended to the President that he fire Comey, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Stone, who also is being scrutinized by the FBI as part of its Russia investigation, spoke to Trump after Comey appeared at a hearing last week on Capitol Hill, according to the source.

Trump immediately disputed that Stone was involved: "The Roger Stone report on @CNN is false - Fake News. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time - had nothing to do with my decision."

Stone said he was not the source behind the reporting but added that he supported the firing of Comey "100%."

A White House spokesperson reached out to CNN to reiterate the President's tweet that he has not spoken to Stone in a "long time," adding, "The President has not spoken to Roger Stone in many months and any reports suggesting otherwise are categorically untrue."

CNN's Sara Murray, Ted Barrett, Eli Watkins, Shimon Prokupecz, Gloria Borger, Pamela Brown, Rene Marsh and Scott Glover contributed to this report.