[W]ASHINGTON — Vermont’s two U.S. senators questioned the motives behind President Donald Trump’s sudden dismissal Tuesday of FBI Director James Comey.
Comey testified in Congress earlier this week about the FBI’s investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, one of the “Watergate Babies” first elected to Congress in 1974 on the heels of President Richard Nixon’s resignation, said Trump’s dismissal was “nothing less than Nixonian.” Leahy has long defended the merits of the Russian investigation and said Tuesday that it was “one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country.”
“The president’s action, and the way it has been handled, is shocking,” Leahy said in a statement late Tuesday. “No one should accept President Trump’s absurd justification that he is now concerned that FBI Director Comey treated Secretary Clinton unfairly. The President in fact celebrated the director’s mistakes in that investigation.”
Both Leahy, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, reiterated calls for a special prosecutor to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia.
“Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey raises serious questions about what his administration is hiding,” Sanders said Tuesday. “Why did President Trump fire the person leading the investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and the Russian government?”
Trump delivered a four-page letter to Comey’s office Tuesday explaining that he had lost confidence in the director.
“It is essential that we find new leadership for the F.B.I. that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission,” Trump wrote in the letter, which was hand-delivered to the FBI headquarters in Washington by the president’s former bodyguard.
Trump went out of his way to distance his firing of Comey from the Russian investigation, writing to Comey that he “greatly appreciate[d] you informing me on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation.”
Comey’s former deputy, Andrew McCabe, will become acting director of the FBI and direct the investigation until Trump’s impending nominee is confirmed.
In justifying Comey’s firing, Trump cited the former director’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, even though Trump said at the time Comey’s investigation of Clinton was “gutsy.”
Comey’s decision to comment publicly on the Clinton case so close to the election broke longstanding Department of Justice guidelines, and analysts have argued that Comey’s comments tipped the election toward Trump. During a heated oversight hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Democrats, including Leahy, criticized Comey for his handling of the Clinton investigation.
The firing came on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former Trump surrogate and Alabama senator, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a former U.S. Attorney in Maryland.
Sessions recused himself from the investigation on Russia earlier this year after The Washington Post revealed he had met with the Russian ambassador during the campaign. During his confirmation hearings, in answers to Leahy and U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., Sessions did not disclose his contacts with Russian officials.
With Sessions out of the way, Rosenstein now oversees the Russia investigation, and will make the crucial decision of whether to proceed with any formal charges based on evidence presented by the FBI.
“I cannot defend the director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails,” Rosenstein wrote in a separate letter Tuesday recommending Comey’s dismissal. “And I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken.”
Both Sanders and Leahy voted to confirm Rosenstein in late April. Before casting his vote, Leahy urged Rosenstein to appoint a special prosecutor, if confirmed, a promise Rosenstein did not make.
Last week, Leahy castigated Comey for his handling of the Clinton investigation, saying, “Americans across the country have been confused and disappointed with your judgment in handling the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails.”
On Tuesday, however, Leahy said Trump’s justification for firing Comey was “absurd,” adding “the president in fact celebrated the director’s egregious mistakes in that investigation.”
Comey — who was serving the third year of a 10-year term — is known throughout Washington as a fiercely independent figure who has been unafraid to break with the priorities and predilections of presidents of both parties.
Sanders and Leahy both expressed skepticism that Trump would appoint a new FBI chief who would independently carry out the investigation into Russia.
“President Trump has repeatedly taken steps to kill inquiries into Russia’s involvement in the U.S. election,” Sanders said. “It is clear that whomever President Trump handpicks to lead the FBI will not be able to objectively carry out this investigation.”
Trump’s FBI nominee will face confirmation hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Leahy is the most senior member. Because the U.S. Senate has eliminated the filibuster for federal appointment, Trump won’t need any Democratic votes to confirm his FBI nominee. Still, a handful of Senate Republicans issued harsh statements Tuesday, questioning Trump’s rationale for firing Comey.
“I’ve spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey’s firing,” wrote Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in a tweet late Tuesday. “I just can’t do it.”
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