Juan Williams: Comey firing burns GOP

[nitpicker]

http://thehill.com/opinion/juan-williams/333255-juan-williams-comey-firing-burns-gop

Juan Williams: Comey firing burns GOP

By Juan Williams - 05/15/17 06:00 AM EDT

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Silver’s breakdown shows that Comey’s letter hurt Clinton’s chances of victory in swing states key to winning the Electoral College — such as Wisconsin and Michigan. Clinton lost in each of those states by less than one percentage point. And keep in mind while Comey was maligning Clinton, he never mentioned the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign. But Republicans still refuse to accept the reality that Russia, a hostile foreign power, played a major role in electing Trump.

Comey’s sudden dismissal is now part of a fire that threatens to burn down the GOP’s House majority next year. The firing came one day after Sally Yates, the former acting Attorney General, told the Senate she warned the White House Counsel about former National Security Adviser Flynn’s ties to Russia weeks before he was fired. Yates, too, was fired by Trump.

How quickly will Capitol Hill Republicans abandon their Republican president in order to save themselves before they are fired by voters? The flight is beginning.

"I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

Comey’s “removal at this particular time will raise questions," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who had previously called for an independent special prosecutor, expressed “regret” at Comey’s firing.
(snip)

But it makes no sense to run slowly from an inferno. This conflagration is threatening to burn every Republican on the ballot in 2018. “The President's firing of Director Comey is a smoke signal. And where there's smoke, there's fire. And this is a bonfire,” tweeted Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).

How far will the fire have to spread before Republicans decide it is every GOP candidate for himself or herself — whatever the consequences for Trump?