Republicans question firing of FBI director
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen Republican senators voiced concerns Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, in a series of statements suggesting the GOP was not yet prepared to close ranks behind its president.
But most Republicans also refused to embrace Democratic calls for a special counsel and it was not clear their hand-wringing would result in any action.
“The timing of this and the reasoning for it doesn’t make sense to me,” said Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, which like the FBI is investigating Russian ties to the Trump campaign and meddling in the 2016 election. Burr said Comey’s firing could complicate his investigation.
“I think we need to find out what’s happened and why,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said: “I do have questions about why he was dismissed at this time given his service and performance.”
The unease expressed by key committee chairs and rank-and-file lawmakers alike came even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed White House talking points and tried to shut down talk of a special prosecutor to investigate Russia issues.
Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell noted that Democrats themselves had repeatedly criticized Comey over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email issues. And he said that with the FBI and Senate intelligence committee already investigating Russian interference, nothing further was needed.
"Today we will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done,” McConnell said. He remarked that Democrats had “consistently complained” about Comey, though he notably failed to reveal his own views on the firing.
The firing came after Comey had requested more resources from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for the Russia investigation, The Associated Press and other news outlets reported. The Justice Department disputed that report.