Senate Democrats are already girding for a fight over who President Trump picks to replace ousted FBI Director James Comey.
“I think it would be a serious mistake if the White house tries to muscle through an FBI director,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, a member of the Democratic Senate leadership, said Tuesday evening.
Durbin told reporters that if the White House chooses a partisan pick to succeed Comey, who was fired on Tuesday night, then the White House will look like they are trying to cover up the agency’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.
“It will look like it is an effort to cover up this investigation and bring it to a close,” Durbin told reporters soon after Comey’s termination was announced.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein added in a statement that the next FBI director must be “strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee.”
Durbin said he was worried about the fate of the bureau’s investigation into alleged contacts between Russian officials and members of President Trump’s campaign. He said that at any point the attorney general can stop the investigation, although Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the investigation because he was a surrogate for the campaign.
“The FBI investigation could be terminated at this point,” Durbin said. “I worry they will refuse the special prosecutor and we will never hear again from the FBI investigation.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters that he wouldn’t mind hearing from Comey testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he sits.
“I think there is still value in his testimony,” he said. “We have taken the testimony of previous officeholders in the past.”
But Rubio said that any decision on calling Comey to testify will be made by the committee chairman.
