The Long Dark Night of the National Soul

I was going to attach this statement from Rep. John Lewis to the prior post, but there's so much more already I'm starting anew.  First. Rep. Lewis:

“Congress needs to have immediate emergency hearings to obtain testimony directly from Attorney General Sessions, the deputy attorney general, and FBI Director Comey. The White House was already covering up for Michael Flynn by refusing to provide a single document to Congress, and now the President fired the one independent person who was doing the most to investigate President Trump and his campaign over allegations of coordination with Russia. It is mindboggling that the Attorney General – who claimed to have recused himself – was directly involved in the decision to fire Director Comey according to the White House itself. There is now a crisis of confidence at the Justice Department, and President Trump is not being held accountable because House Republicans refuse to work with us to do our job.   Congress must restore credibility, accountability, and transparency to this investigation and finally pass legislation to create a truly independent commission.”

The Congressional Democratic response is just as strong:

The need for an independent special prosecutor is now crystal clear. https://t.co/gjxbPCbSqz

— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) May 9, 2017

I've said it before and will again - we must have a special prosecutor to oversee the FBI's Russia investigation. This cannot wait. https://t.co/Z9eeGNLTzr

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 9, 2017

No more excuses: We need an independent special prosecutor to investigate the Trump Administration’s ties to Russia.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 9, 2017

.@POTUS firing the FBI Director—while his campaign associates are under FBI investigation—is stunning. We need an independent investigation.

— Tom Udall (@SenatorTomUdall) May 9, 2017

My statement on the removal of @FBI Director James Comey pic.twitter.com/w8BpVateeq

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) May 9, 2017

This is not what an innocent person would do. Firing the guy investigating #RussianHacking -- without cause -- is consciousness of guilt. https://t.co/KZkci2XRqc

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 9, 2017

My staff and I are reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia. The second paragraph of this letter is bizarre. https://t.co/wXeDtVIQiP

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 9, 2017

Josh Marshall says:

We are now hearing word from White House officials that the White House is stunned at the backlash at Comey’s firing. Didn’t Democrats think he was doing a bad job? We’re even hearing commentators speculate that maybe this may have been a huge miscalculation. The White House didn’t realize how big a deal this was. In the final analysis I think this will be judged a major miscalculation – just not in the sense they mean. Frankly, no one is that naive. It doesn’t wash.

Naive?  No.  Incompetent?  Yes.

Comey learned of firing as he addressed FBI employees in LA. TV screens in background flashed news of firing. Letter was then given to FBI.

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) May 9, 2017

Source in the FBI field office in LA tells me Comey was in the LA office when his firing was announced and he found out by seeing it on TV.

— Yashar (@yashar) May 9, 2017

Now we'll see what Congress does....