WASHINGTON – Not long after learning about FBI Director James Comey’s termination, West Michigan Congressman Justin Amash says he’s going to look at establishing an independent commission to investigative possible ties between President Trump and Russia.
In a message posted to Twitter early Tuesday evening, he linked to the termination letter Trump sent to Comey, firing him. Amash referred to the second paragraph as “bizarre.”
The letter reads:
“I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.
It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.
I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.”
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2017 — U.S. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the U.S. bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, May 3, 2017. James Comey on Wednesday defended his decision to announce a new investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails while staying quiet on the Trump-Russia one prior to the 2016 U.S. elections. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan via Getty Images)
The White House announced they were firing Comey shortly after the FBI corrected a sentence in Comey’s sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week, when he told lawmakers that a top aide to Hillary Clinton had forwarded “hundreds and thousands” of emails to her husband’s laptop, some of which contained classified information.
Tuesday, the FBI said only “a small number” of the thousands of emails were forwarded, while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. The FBI said said most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding.
The search for a new FBI director is beginning immediately.
