The Republican overseeing the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election dismissed calls for a special prosecutor after President Trump’s abrupt removal of FBI Director James Comey.
But Intel Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) still expressed concern about the circumstances of Comey’s firing. “The timing of this and the reasoning for it doesn’t make sense to me,” Burr told reporters at the Capitol, echoing a statement he put out Tuesday night after the news broke.
“I think this made our task a little bit more difficult, but it didn’t make it impossible, so we’ll continue,” Burr said, of the committee’s investigation.
He elaborated that Comey’s firing complicates the Intel probe from “a deconfliction standpoint.”
“We would like to make sure that everything that we do does not disrupt any potential investigation,” Burr said.
He confirmed that Comey would no longer be appearing at the Intel committee’s annual hearing on “Worldwide Threats” slated for Thursday. He also said the he spoke to the President Tuesday night, but would not elaborate on the content of the conversation beyond confirming that the Intel committee’s probe was not discussed.
