Massachusetts reps back pressure on Russia inquiry

Bay State Democrats continued to call for an independent commission and special prosecutor to probe potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the wake of yesterday’s dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey, as Republicans insisted Trump’s Department of Justice can handle the probe.

“The investigation will continue,” California Republican Darryl Issa, who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show yesterday.

“A career deputy attorney general is going to continue to head it because the attorney general recused himself, appropriately. Professionals at the FBI and other agencies will continue,” he added.

On Tuesday, President Trump abruptly fired Comey, who was leading a probe of Russian involvement in the 2016 election. A letter recommending the dismissal was sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Tuesday, citing Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Massachusetts Democrats yesterday assailed the move.

“This isn’t good for anyone,” U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano also said on the Herald Radio show. “If the Republicans think it’s good short-term politics for them to stonewall this (investigation) they’re wrong.”

Capuano has repeatedly called for an independent commission to investigate the matter, which has roiled the Trump administration.

Comey’s firing, Capuano said, “really undermines faith in the system, and the system is already undermined.”

U.S. Rep. William Keating, a former district attorney who serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees, called the dismissal “shocking” in light of the FBI’s ongoing probe of the election and the administration.

He added, also during a call-in to the “Morning Meeting” show: “I think the public has great support for the two-pronged attack of a special prosecutor and an independent commission.”