Republican members of Maine's congressional delegation continue to resist calls for a special prosecutor in the wake of President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, splitting with their Democratic counterparts on the issue.
Sen. Susan Collins says she remains confident that the FBI can investigate any Trump campaign ties to Russia. Collins spoke to the PBS Newshour Tuesday, shortly after Comey's firing.
"I do hope that the next FBI director will have the same kind of integrity, intelligence and determination that Mr. Comey exhibited," Collins said. But she said she hoped his successor would exhibit better judgment about when to discuss FBI investigations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP6KXeGcBnY
Collins' fellow Republican, 2nd District Congressman Bruce Poliquin, did not immediately return a call for comment. According to the Portland Press Herald, he says in a statement that he "will continue to closely monitor" the FBI's investigation.
But 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, and Sen. Angus King, an independent, are calling for a special counsel. And King told CNN Wednesday morning that the president would be wise to go along.
"If the administration doesn't have anything to hide, they ought to be cooperating and helping with this because, otherwise, this issue is going to dog them for years, and it's just going to keep being a dark cloud over whatever they do," King said.
In a statement released last night, King said it was "urgently necessary" to appoint a special prosecutor. Pingree agrees.
"I would like nothing more than to feel like the FBI will continue on this path and that we'll get a serious investigation and the information that we need," Pingree says. "I think that the President's decision to fire him at this moment in time raises questions."
Pingree says those questions could include whether the FBI probe was getting too close to the administration.
Sens. King and Collins are both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own investigation into any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, an investigation Poliquin says he will also be tracking.
King told CNN that he had a "fun idea in the middle of the night" after learning about Comey's firing. "I think our committee - the Intelligence Committee - ought to hire James Comey to direct our investigation. Already got his clearances, knows the subject, man of integrity. I'm going to float that today and see what kind of reaction I get."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL1mmtGXXto
Comey has been invited to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next Tuesday, May 16.
This story was updated at 11:40 a.m.
