Trump ‘very close’ to naming FBI director
Former senator Lieberman among top candidates to replace Comey
President Donald Trump says he is “very close” to naming a new FBI director. An announcement was expected anytime from yesterday, the soft deadline Trump set for himself.
The president was to depart later yesterday on his inaugural overseas trip, a four-country, five-stop journey tour of the Middle East and Europe that will keep him out of the country for more than a week.
“We’re very close to an FBI director,” Trump said on Thursday when asked about the search during an Oval Office appearance with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
He said an announcement could come “soon” and that former senator Joe Lieberman was among his top candidates.
Lieberman was among four candidates Trump interviewed at the White House this week. The former Connecticut senator flashed a thumbs-up as he left the White House on Wednesday after meeting Trump and said they had a “good meeting.”
Trump also met with former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating; Richard McFeely, a former top FBI official; and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe.
Senate must confirm
Trump needs a new FBI director because he fired James Comey last week, an unexpected move that drew bipartisan criticism. Comey was overseeing the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s role in the presidential election, including ties between Russian government officials and Trump associates.
In an attempt to quell the furore over Comey’s ouster, the Justice Department this week hired former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the investigation. Trump has denounced the probe as a “witch hunt.” The Senate must confirm Trump’s candidate for the FBI job.
Word of Lieberman’s standing in the candidate search drew a mixed reaction from Capitol Hill, with Senate Republicans praising the Democrat turned independent, and Democrats seeming less than enthused about their former colleague.