FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/POLITICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump’s stunning firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, injected another volatile ingredient into the partisanship already engulfing the capital and threatened to overwhelm Republican efforts to turn their government control into legislative success.
The decision to replace Mr. Comey also increased the prospect of another contentious confirmation fight in the Senate as Mr. Trump promised to move quickly to replace the director, who had overseen the inquiry into Russian meddling in the election. And the White House handling of the dismissal — and its apparent failure to anticipate the severe backlash the move generated — renewed questions about the competency of administration officials and their ability to navigate Washington.
Already on the defensive over their health care proposal, congressional Republicans suddenly found themselves trying to explain how Mr. Trump was within his rights in jettisoning Mr. Comey. Democrats quickly coalesced around the push for a special prosecutor to take control of the inquiry, saying the leadership of the Justice Department could not be trusted with the job after the termination of the F.B.I. chief on what they considered spurious grounds.
-Carl Hulse, “Comey’s Firing May Imperil Republicans’ Legislative Agenda,” The New York Times online, May 10, 2017