Senator Kamala Harris: Firing of Comey threatens entire judicial system

California Senator Kamala Harris says she’s very concerned about Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James Comey.

“It’s threatening the integrity of the entire judicial system,” Harris tells KCRW’s Press Play.

Harris repeats her calls for a special prosecutor to look into contacts and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

She also says she has no confidence in Attorney Generation Jeff Sessions, who apparently participated in the decision to fire Comey.

“He, now having recused himself, inserted himself in a decision to recommend that the head of the FBI be fired. The Attorney General, Sessions, I think lacks all credibility as it relates to being able to be the head of this Department of Justice,” she asserts.

Harris also doubts the credibility of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, based on “essentially a vacuous memorandum that was written and relied upon apparently as a basis for firing the head of the FBI.”

Harris says she still has faith in the men and women of the FBI themselves. “I do believe that they can continue to do their work, but they must do their work under the direction and in coordination with the prosecutor’s office.”

And she says she is concerned about the investigation going forward under Trump’s Justice Department. And she makes clear that she sees the stakes for the country are extremely high.

“It makes clear that if you have money, if you have power, you can just change the rules,” Harris says. “And for a person walking into a courtroom every day, this compounds their worst fears that the system is fixed. And it’s incumbent upon us — in positions of leadership — to fight for the integrity of these systems.”

President Trump today said he fired Comey because the former FBI director wasn’t doing a good job. The White House also told reporters that Trump had been considering this move since he was elected.

For this segment, Press Play also spoke with Adam Schiff, U.S. Democratic Representative and ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee; Jon Michaels, who teaches constitutional and national security law at UCLA; and Doug Kmiec, Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University.