Hudson Valley Reps React To James Comey Firing

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Reactions to the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Donald Trump have been coming in from Hudson Valley representatives expressing concern and calling for a special prosecutor. The announcement that Comey had been immediately relieved of his duties came Tuesday evening, with the White House saying that Trump acted on the recommendations of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, who represents the 17th Congressional District in parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, said the decision to fire the FBI director raises questions and the administration’s reasons behind it lack clarity.

“President Trump must immediately make three things clear: why he chose to fire Director Comey now; why administration officials have claimed Director Comey’s termination had nothing to do with pre-election events; and why the American people should have confidence in any future nominee the president chooses for FBI director,” Lowey said in a prepared statement.

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Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents the 18th Congressional District in parts of the mid-Hudson Valley, said the firing raises as many questions as it answers and that the public deserves a real explanation from the president.

“I only have two words: independent investigation,” Maloney said.

Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, whose district is the 19th and covers Ulster County and points north, called the firing of Comey “at the same time unsurprising and shocking.”

He said it was unsurprising in that his actions relating to the Clinton email server matter caused controversy on both sides of the political aisle, citing Comey’s recent misstatements about Huma Abedin’s emails “perhaps the final misstep.”

Faso said the firing was shocking because the FBI has an ongoing investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

“The public must have absolute confidence that the FBI investigation will be thorough, and result in a complete resolution of that question regardless of the outcome. The facts must be known,” he said.

Faso called for the administration to nominate someone to become the new FBI director who has “unquestioned integrity and experience, acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, to lead this critical agency on the Russian investigation and all other matters coming before it.”

Failing that, Faso said the only alternative would be the selection of an independent investigator.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, whose 16th district covers parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, called the abrupt firing of Comey was one of the most astounding and troubling actions he’s seen from an American president since Watergate.

“I had my share of concerns over Mr. Comey’s recent actions as FBI director, but firing Mr. Comey at the very moment a grand jury was summoning witnesses on the Trump-Russia scandal suggests an agenda of obstruction and obfuscation from the highest levels of the Trump administration,” he said.

Engel said the firing “only underscores the need for a special prosecutor and an independent commission to get to the bottom of this scandal.

Additional reporting by Cody Fenwick.

Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images News/Getty Images.