Donald Trump 'has 60% chance' of being impeached after James Comey firing
Donald Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey has seen the odds on his impeachment slashed to their shortest ever price.
Bookmaker Paddy Power said its odds reflected a 60 per cent chance of the billionaire being impeached during his first term in office.
Mr Comey's sacking reverberated around Washington on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday. He had been leading the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election and claims of ties between Mr Trump's associates and the Kremlin.
A Paddy Power spokesman said: "In the past 24 hours alone we’ve seen money for Trump to be impeached in his first term, resulting in us cutting the odds from 10/11 into 4/6.
"We can attribute this to the news of Comey’s sacking. [That] is the shortest we’ve been for Trump to be impeached in his first term."
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In the US, traders on politics share-betting site PredictIt had Mr Trump's chance of being in office at the end of 2017 at just 82 per cent at the end of Wednesday, down from a recent high of 87 per cent two days prior.
Sky Bet said betting on the Trump presidency spiked after news broke of Mr Comey's departure, but that it appeared to be a normal reaction to such a major announcement.
Betfair said its peer-to-peer Exchange platform saw "a rush of activity in the 24 hours after the announcement". A huge £100,000 bet on Mr Trump to leave before the end of his first term helped shift odds from 15/8 to 11/10, it said.
And some 2,000 punters backed 2017 as the year he would leave office. A spokeswoman said: "The odds for 2017 plummeted from 9/1 to 3/1 immediately after the announcement. They've since resettled at 5/1 now. 2020 or later is still the favourite but the odds have drifted from a clear odds-on chance to just even money since the FBI sacking."
A spokesman for betting comparison site Oddschecker said: "Donald Trump to be ousted from the White House before his finishes his first term has been a popular bet since he came into power, however following his recent actions there’s been a surge of activity for this to happen before the end of the year.
"In the months following his inauguration, 58 percent of bets placed were on Trump leaving office in 2020 or later. However, since Tuesday’s shock sacking, 60 percent of bets have been on him leaving in 2017 at 2/1, a price which has shortened from 9/2 in the same time-period."
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