Schumer Floor Remarks: Democrats Demand Answer from Leader McConnnell by End of Day on Request for an All Senators Briefing with AG Sessions and Deputy AG Rosenstein on FBI Director Comey’s Firing

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for an all senators briefing on FBI Director James Comey’s firing and outlining the need for a special prosecutor to conduct the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Below are his remarks:

Mr. President, the dismissal of Director Comey has raised a bevy of troubling questions over the past few days. The President of the United States fired the man in charge of an active investigation about the president and his campaign’s ties to Russia.

And the truth is, the dismissal of Director Comey is part of a much longer pattern of this Administration’s interfering with or removing the people who are in a position to conduct an independent investigation of the President and his Administration.

The Administration requested that the Chairman of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees help them beat back reports in the press about the Russia probe.

They picked as Attorney General a very close political ally, then-Sen. Sessions, to lead a Justice Department that was supposed to independently conduct this investigation.

Attorney General Sessions has since had to recuse himself from the Russia investigation after he misled Congress about his meetings with the Russian Ambassador.

And the Administration is not shy about removing independent prosecutors and law enforcement officers from their posts if they are doing something the President doesn’t like.

They fired Sally Yates. They fired Preet Bharara. They fired more than 40 other U.S. Attorneys across the country. And now they have fired Director Comey.

This is about more than just Mr. Comey. This is about a pattern of events which casts tremendous doubt on whether this Administration has any interest in allowing the Russia investigation – or any other investigation that could be politically damaging to them -- to proceed unimpeded.

This is about one of the most sacred things we believe in as Americans – the rule of law – which is being threatened here.

We in Congress – both parties – should have one, overarching goal: get the full unvarnished truth. That means getting to the bottom of the events that led to Mr. Comey’s dismissal and making sure the Russia investigation is conducted impartially. Here in Congress, the Senate Intelligence Committee is doing its investigation in a bipartisan way, but the executive branch investigation has been compromised.   

Attorney General Sessions, who had to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, played a significant role in firing the man who was leading it. Not only that, the Attorney General is now reportedly leading the search to replace Mr. Comey. He’s helping select the next FBI Director who will be in charge of an investigation that he cannot oversee. What an irony.

This Attorney General should not oversee the hiring process of the next FBI Director. His role will jaundice the entire process if it hasn’t already.

In order to ensure the American people can have faith in the impartiality of the investigation, it must be conducted far from the reach of this White House. It is the overwhelming view of my caucus that a special prosecutor should now be appointed to conduct the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

That special prosecutor should be appointed by the highest ranking civil servant at the Department of Justice. Mr. Rosenstein and other political appointees should not be the ones who decide on a special prosecutor, lest that decision be seen as influenced, or worse, made at the direction of the Administration. And I thank my colleague from California Senator Feinstein for speaking so eloquently on this proposal.

In addition, Mr. President, there are several things that should happen here on Capitol Hill that will help us get to the bottom of the events this week.

First, Mr. Comey should come testify before Congress. There are so many questions that only Mr. Comey can answer. So I applaud Senators Burr and Warner for inviting him to appear before the Intelligence Committee next week. It was the right thing to do. I urge Mr. Comey to come and tell the whole story.

And second, Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein should make themselves available to Congress.

I am renewing my request of the Majority Leader to call an all-Senators briefing where they can answer the questions swirling about from Tuesday night's firing. They should appear separately, and in a classified setting if necessary.

Mr. Rosenstein has played a central role in all of these events and could help clear up the questions about where the decision to fire Mr. Comey originated. So later today, separate and apart from my request that he come before the Senate, I will be sending a letter to Mr. Rosenstein with a list of questions for him to answer. America needs to hear them.

Many Democrats voted for Mr. Rosenstein a few weeks ago because he had a reputation for integrity and assured us he would be an independent force inside the Dept. of Justice. 94 Senators voted for him. But the events of the last week have made many of us question that belief. He owes it to the U.S. Senate, which confirmed him, to provide some answers.

So in sum, we demand the appointment of a special prosecutor by a non-political appointee at the Dept. of Justice, we want to hear from Mr. Comey, and we’d like the Majority Leader to hold separate, all-Senators briefings with the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General.

This would help us get a hold on what happened, why, and what to do next.

I sincerely hope that we will get an answer from the Majority Leader by the end of the day.

Mr. President, this is a very serious matter. There are two different stories coming out of the White House. Some are saying the decision to fire Mr. Comey came directly from the White House, others, including the Vice President, have said that it came from the Dept. of Justice – specifically Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. Sessions. We need to resolve those two storylines. On something as important as this, we need the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

So I hope my Republican colleagues see the wisdom and value in our requests and respond appropriately by the end of the day.