Local Lawmakers React To President Trump's Decision To Fire FBI Director
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – FBI Director James Comey's termination has shocked the political world, and local lawmakers are chiming in on President Donald Trump's decision.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson released a short, one sentence statement.
"Now it is more clear than ever that we need an independent commission to get to the truth of Russia's interference with our election."
His Republican counterpart, Sen. Marco Rubio, told CNN's Manu Raju he learned through breaking news alerts.
Rubio, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had confidence in Comey.
However, the Florida senator wasn't ready to discuss a special prosecutor for the case.
"I need to learn more about the circumstances behind it," he told Raju.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo on the other hand said he's ready for Congress to investigate.
He spoke with CBS4's Hank Tester late Tuesday night.
"This raises a lot of questions and we need answers to those questions. Why exactly did the director get fired? Why the timing of this firing?" he said. "And now, we need to make sure the FBI continues to operate as an independent agency with integrity and transparency that pursues all pending investigations, including Russia's influence on the 2016 election and the political collaboration with U.S. persons by Russian agents."
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who said there is no doubt a special prosecutor must be appointed, was extremely critical of the president.
"This is a dark day for justice in America. The conduct of FBI Director James Comey before the 2016 Election was certainly disturbing, and undoubtedly deserved criticism and scrutiny. But the reasoning and timing behind this firing is absolutely preposterous and unbelievable. It smacks of a Nixon-esque cover up of President Trump's Kremlin ties. And with this egregious political power play, there is now no question that a special prosecutor is needed, because Americans absolutely deserve an open, independent investigation into Trump's Russian connections."
Congresswoman Lois Frankel also released a statement calling for an investigation.
"I am no fan of Director Comey, but I'm deeply disturbed by President Trump's decision to fire the man who is investigating him. This just goes to show that it's now more important than ever to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Russian interference in our presidential election, and possible Russian coordination with the Trump campaign."
Comey's dismissal came after he apparently misspoke during testimony about Clinton's emails last week.
President Trump wrote a letter directly to Comey, informing him of his decision.
In the letter, Trump said that he had agreed with Sessions and Rosenstein's recommendations to terminate him.
It remains unclear exactly why the president fired Comey.