Comey: Firing of FBI director raises questions about Russia probe

President Donald Trump said his abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey was intended to bring public trust back to the agency.

What it does is cast doubts on the White House and the Trump team's involvement with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.

By firing Comey on Tuesday, Trump has created a shadow over any further investigation into the Russian affair.

The firing brought back memories of the infamous 1973 Saturday Night Massacre during the presidency of Richard Nixon, when the latter was under fire during the Watergate investigation.

Comey was let go because he was leading an investigation that could link Trump and his aides with the Russian government and its efforts to deny the presidency to Democrat Hillary Clinton. This is the type of stuff that could topple a presidency.

With the Republican-led Congress resisting a serious probe, Comey was the only real ongoing effort to get to the bottom of the issue. Now he is gone, and the time has come to appoint a special outside investigator to find out what Russia did or did not do to influence the American elections.

Published in Editorials on May 10, 2017 9:25 AM