[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2941-S2942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Firing of James Comey

  Mr. President, I rise to speak about President Trump's firing of FBI 
Director James Comey. In and of itself, this action by President Trump 
is seismic and has shaken the very foundation of our government and, I 
dare say, of our democracy. But just yesterday, the American people 
were also once again confronted by Presidential actions that raised 
both alarm and the need for investigation. In a new story, the 
Washington Post reported that President Trump revealed highly sensitive 
classified material to senior Russian officials during a meeting last 
week. According to the Post story, President Trump reportedly revealed 
information about ISIS that could compromise a partner country's key 
intelligence sources and enable Russia to, according to the story, 
``identify our sources and techniques'' for gathering intelligence.
  There could be no greater compromise of American security. The 
information that President Trump revealed was so sensitive that the 
United States had previously refrained from sharing it even with our 
allies.
  President Trump's decision to relay some of our most sensitive 
intelligence with representatives of the Russian Government betrays an 
astounding lack of judgment. By revealing what is called ``code-word'' 
information to Russia, President Trump may have compromised key 
intelligence sources, endangered the fight against ISIS, and undermined 
the trust of our international partners.
  While the President may have the authority to declassify U.S. 
intelligence, it is imperative to the safety of our military and 
intelligence personnel and those of our partners that he do so through 
a careful and deliberative process. There is no evidence that Donald 
Trump did that.
  Congress must immediately investigate this irresponsible action and 
take steps to ensure that President Trump does no additional damage to 
national security in his dealings with Russia. This dangerous behavior 
comes on the heels of the President's reckless decision to fire former 
FBI Director James Comey, pushing our country ever closer to a 
constitutional crisis. President Trump's firing of Mr. Comey is 
disturbingly reminiscent of Watergate's Saturday Night Massacre, when 
our Constitution was last subject to an executive-branch-induced stress 
test.
  Then, President Nixon fired the independent prosecutor, Archibald 
Cox, who was leading the investigation into the Watergate scandal and 
the Nixon campaign's involvement in it. Now President Trump has fired 
his FBI Director, who was leading the investigation into the Russian 
interference scandal and the Trump campaign's involvement in it. Mark 
Twain is purported to have said that history doesn't repeat itself, but 
it does tend to rhyme. Unfortunately, there is no humor in President 
Trump's actions.
  At first, we were supposed to believe that the President fired 
Director Comey because of the way he handled the investigation of 
Hillary Clinton's email server, which was unfair to her. That was what 
President Trump sent his staff out to tell the press and the American 
people. The official White House statement from Press Secretary Sean 
Spicer on May 9 said that President Trump acted based on the clear 
recommendation of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and 
Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That was a reference to the now-
infamous memorandum by Attorney General Sessions, prepared by Deputy 
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, which cited Comey's ``handling of the 
conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails'' as the 
reason why the public purportedly had lost confidence in the FBI and on 
which Attorney General Sessions based his recommendation to the 
President that he fire Mr. Comey.
  On May 9, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said that 
President Trump ``took the recommendation of his Deputy Attorney 
General, who oversees the FBI Director.'' Then on May 10, Deputy White 
House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the President 
``took the recommendation seriously. And he made a decision based on 
that.'' Even Vice President Pence said that President Trump's decision 
to fire Comey was based on the Rosenstein memo.
  So the American people were being told to believe that President 
Trump took the unprecedented step of firing the FBI Director in the 
midst of an investigation of the Trump campaign because James Comey was 
too hard on Hillary Clinton. That simply didn't pass the laugh test. 
Who can forget that Candidate Trump repeatedly called her ``crooked 
Hillary Clinton'' throughout the campaign? Who can forget that 
Candidate Trump applauded Director Comey for the way he handled the 
Clinton investigation? At the end of October 2016, just days before the 
election and after Comey had reopened the Clinton email investigation, 
Trump said that Comey had ``guts'' and had ``brought back his 
reputation.''
  But it took only 1 day after Mr. Comey's firing for President Trump 
himself to admit that reason was utterly false. In an interview 
President Trump said that Rosenstein ``made a recommendation, but 
regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey, knowing there 
was no good time to do it.''
  So much for the Rosenstein memo. So much for the White House press 
statement. So much for what Kellyanne Conway said. So much for the 
words of the Vice President of the United States. If that admission 
wasn't enough, President Trump went on to tell everyone what was on his 
mind when he made that decision. Here is his quote:

       And, in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to 
     myself, I said, ``You know, this Russia thing with Trump and 
     Russia is a made-up story. It's an excuse by the Democrats 
     for having lost an election that they should have won.''

  President Trump's statements about the Russia investigation are, of 
course, untrue. There is nothing made up about the conclusion of the 
intelligence community that Russia interfered with our election. The 
allegations of the Trump campaign's collusion with the Russians are 
serious. That is why the FBI and the House and Senate Intelligence 
Committees have been investigating them.
  So contrary to what White House senior administration officials and--
the President, in fact, admitted that he fired the Director of the FBI 
precisely because he was overseeing an investigation of the Trump 
campaign and its ties to Russia. According to all of these various 
reports, the President did so just after Director Comey had gone to 
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein

[[Page S2942]]

and asked for more resources for the Russia investigation.
  The firing of James Comey now brings the number of law enforcement 
officials who were investigating the Trump campaign or his 
administration when they themselves were fired to three--first, 
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, then Deputy Attorney General 
Sally Yates, and now Director Comey.
  President Trump himself, in his termination letter to Comey, made no 
mention of the Clinton email investigation but instead expressly linked 
the firing to the Russia investigation. Trump claimed that he fired 
Comey despite Comey having informed the President on three separate 
occasions that he was not under investigation--a claim that has not 
been substantiated.
  Here is the plain and simple truth: President Trump feared that the 
FBI investigation into his campaign's possible collusion with Russia 
was getting too close for comfort, so he fired Director Comey. Comey's 
firing could be nothing less than obstruction of justice masquerading 
as a personnel action. It is what impeding a Federal investigation 
looks like. It is what an assault on the rule of law looks like.
  If there is one lesson President Trump should have learned from 
Watergate, it is this: If you are under investigation, don't fire the 
investigator.
  But as disturbing as Mr. Comey's firing is, it gets worse. Days 
after, President Trump tweeted a veiled threat--one that smacked of 
witness intimidation. Here is the quote: ``James Comey better hope that 
there are no tapes of our conversation before he starts leaking to the 
press.'' Are there recordings? We don't know yet. But if there are, the 
White House and Justice Department must ensure that they are preserved.
  It is clear that President Trump did not learn any of the lessons of 
Watergate, which only underscores the need for a special prosecutor 
independent of the White House and Justice Department to get to the 
bottom of this. The role of a special independent prosecutor is to 
follow all of the facts wherever they lead. That individual needs to be 
as far away from the White House as possible.
  Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein should not be the one to appoint a 
special prosecutor. Just 3 weeks on the job, Mr. Rosenstein is now 
compromised by the questions swirling around his role in the Comey 
firing: Did Comey meet with Rosenstein and ask for more resources for 
the Russia investigation? Why did Rosenstein discuss the removal of 
Director Comey with Attorney General Sessions after Sessions had 
recused himself from the Russia investigation? Why didn't Rosenstein 
question Sessions's involvement?
  The magnitude of--the decision to appoint a special counsel in these 
circumstances cannot be made by a political appointee. Instead, I join 
Minority Leader Schumer's call that the appointment must be made by the 
highest ranking career civil servant in the Justice Department, someone 
insulated from politics and the White House. Until we have an 
independent special prosecutor appointed, we should not move forward 
with the confirmation of any replacement for James Comey as Director of 
the FBI.
  Additionally, Director Comey should come and testify before Congress, 
which both Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Burr and Vice 
Chairman Warner have already requested, clearly showing the bipartisan 
support for this. There are too many unanswered questions that only 
Director Comey can answer.
  Finally, while it has been announced that Deputy Attorney General 
Rosenstein will brief all Senators and answer their questions, we must 
still hear from Attorney General Sessions.
  We must not lose sight of the fact that a foreign power interfered in 
our last Presidential election and that the Trump campaign may have 
colluded with it to win the White House. This strikes at the heart of 
our government and our very democracy. Our elections must be fair and 
free of foreign interference. It is time for both Democrats and 
Republicans to put love of country ahead of party and to come together 
and demand the appointment of a special prosecutor who will investigate 
and follow the facts no matter where they lead.
  Mr. President, I would like to conclude my remarks today by 
expressing my opposition to the nomination of Jeffrey Rosen to be 
Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Mr. Rosen has a long history, both 
in government and in the private sector, of defending private industry 
against regulations designed to protect the American public. When he 
first worked for the Department of Transportation, he touted the fact 
that he was involved in ending or withdrawing 180 potential 
Transportation Department rulemakings.
  He has also been hostile to environmental regulations designed to 
protect our air and water. He opposed greenhouse gas emissions 
regulations in his role at the Office of Management and Budget and 
personally represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in attempting to 
undermine climate change science in order to fend off potential 
regulations. Mr. Rosen's firm represented the Alliance of Automobile 
Manufacturers and other auto groups against California over rules meant 
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase nonpolluting vehicles.
  I will vote no on Mr. Rosen's nomination because our automobile 
safety, environment, and clean energy future are just too important. I 
urge my colleagues to join me.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.