Comey Firing Raises Stakes for Trump-Russia Probe: Fmr. U.S. AG Gonzales
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey will raise the stakes in the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.
“We’re going to find out if in fact there was any kind of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Either the FBI is going to find it out, the Congress is going to find it out, or the American media is going to find out,†Gonzales said in an interview with the FOX Business Network.
Trump's fired Comey Tuesday, citing a lack of confidence that Comey can still lead the department. The decision came in a letter Trump sent to Comey expressing displeasure with FBI director’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal during her time as secretary of state.
Gonzales said Comey's actions and public statements of the past year raised questions about Comey’s ability to effectively lead the FBI. “As a general matter, you want the FBI running behind the scenes, doing an investigation quietly, not making an announcement other than perhaps we’ve begun an investigation or we’ve closed an investigation,†he said.
The former U.S. attorney general said Director Comey lost the confidence of people on both sides of the political aisle and of the American people.
“I think there were a number of reasons why the President may have lost confidence based upon the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General [Rod J. Rosenstein] and the Attorney General of the Department of Justice,†he said.