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Republicans resist independent review after Comey firing

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey threw the US Senate into a state of shock Wednesday, as most business ground to a halt and Democrats and even some Republicans pressed for answers about the sudden dismissal.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey threw the US Senate into a state of shock Wednesday, as most business ground to a halt and Democrats and even some Republicans pressed for answers about the sudden dismissal.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans, while questioning the timing of President Trump’s surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey, on Wednesday sought to stifle demands for a special counsel to independently review possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

On the day after what some Democrats likened to Richard Nixon’s infamous Saturday Night Massacre, prominent Republican senators including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas backed Trump’s move wholeheartedly. Because Trump’s allies in the Senate are sticking with him, it could mitigate some of the political damage to the president, allowing the White House to continue painting criticism of the White House as motivated by partisanship.

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Speaking on the Senate floor, majority leader Mitch McConnell gave a full-throated endorsement of Comey’s firing. Dismissing Democrats’ calls for an independent counsel, McConnell said any new investigation would hinder the progress of other probes, including the investigation by the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, which is being led by Republican senators.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa also offered a robust defense of the president’s actions. “The FBI director serves at the pleasure of the president,” said Grassley, leader of the Senate’s judiciary committee.

Fallout over Comey’s sudden firing dominated the Capitol Wednesday, grinding most legislative business to a halt. Democrats disrupted committee hearings by invoking Senate rules in symbolic protest of Trump’s action against the FBI director.

Democratic lawmakers said they believe Trump fired Comey to halt the ongoing FBI investigation into possible Kremlin meddling in the 2016 election. In an interview, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said, “This is about Russia,” not Comey’s handling of last year’s FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail account, which was cited by the Trump administration to justify the firing.

“Donald Trump has shown his disregard for the rule of law,’’ Warren said. “He has tried already to put himself above the law, but this was the kind of move that no one saw coming.’’

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Republicans attempted to paint such conclusions as partisan.

“I’ve heard what I think is a phony narrative that he did this somehow to squelch the investigation into Russia, which I don’t believe there’s any evidence of,” said John Cornyn, the Republican senator from Texas who serves in the GOP leadership.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said he was “surprised” by the firing, but he’s moving on.

“The president, I am sure, will nominate someone of the highest caliber,” Rubio said. “I didn’t see it coming, but it’s a decision the president has made and we’ll go from here.”

The lukewarm response angered many Senate Democrats, who view the Comey firing as a Nixonian episode that undermines faith in America’s democratic institutions to fairly police themselves.

In a rare show of disdain on the Senate floor, Democrats packed their seats at 9:30 a.m. to express support for Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. In his remarks, Schumer called for an exhaustive investigation into Comey’s firing. The New York senator also challenged McConnell to hold a classified, all-Senate meeting on what led to Comey’s dismissal.

“I have said from the get-go that I think a special prosecutor is the way to go, but now, with what’s happened, it is the only way to go,” Schumer said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

“Was this really about something else?” he continued. “No doubt we’ll have an opportunity to question Mr. Comey, now a private citizen, about what happened. But we need to hear from this administration about what happened and why and what is going to happen next.”

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Another sign that Democrats were feeling particularly emboldened: Heidi Heitkamp, a moderate Democrat who is up for reelection in the red state of North Dakota, released a statement saying she now believed it was time for a special prosecutor to intervene in the Russia probe.

She called the actions by the Trump White House “deeply troubling and unprecedented.”

“It’s critical that the American people know the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in our election is, and always will be, impartial. It’s time a special prosecutor is appointed to guarantee that happens,” Heitkamp’s statement read.

To be sure, some Republicans have also slightly escalated their rhetoric against Trump, stating they were disappointed in the president’s decision to fire Comey at this time. GOP lawmakers such as Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said the timing of Comey’s firing raised questions, and added that they were eagerly awaiting more information.

On the floor, some could be seen having animated conversations, and Senator Richard Burr, the North Carolina Republican who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and denounced the firing on Twitter Tuesday night, was among the gathered group.

Ben Sasse, the Republican senator from Nebraska, has called the timing “very troubling,” and Rob Portman of Ohio said he wants the White House to “provide a fuller explanation for the president’s rationale.”

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Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she would consider calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine, said she was also reviewing all the options — including the independent prosecutor.

“The Justice Department retains regulations that set out, very specifically, the circumstances in which an independent counsel is appropriate. I’m taking a look at that,” Collins said.

Bob Corker, the Republican senator from Tennessee, said he told the White House last night that the timing of the firing would raise suspicions. On Wednesday, Corker said he wanted to take the next 24 hours to survey available information.

“It raises questions,” Corker told reporters. “They now have to figure out a way forward that is beyond reproach. They need to find an FBI director that is beyond reproach.”

Justice Department memos recommending Comey’s dismissal cited Comey’s highly unusual public statements about the FBI’s investigation of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server. But as senators pointed out Wednesday morning, Comey was not fired on Inauguration Day, but more than 100 days later, with an impersonal letter delivered to his office while he was out of town.

Plus, Trump had previously praised Comey’s conduct.

On Wednesday, Trump was asked by White House pool reporters why he fired Comey.

He gave a succinct answer: “[Comey] wasn’t doing a good job. Very simply. He was not doing a good job.”


Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @AsteadWH

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