Clapper said the three co-equal branches of government with checks and balances are \u201ceroding\u201d under Trump<\/b>
\nWashington \u2014 American democracy is separately \u201cunder assault\u201d from President Donald Trump and Russia, the former U. S. intelligence chief warned Sunday, expressing dismay over the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey amid a probe into Moscow\u2019s meddling in U. S. elections and possible ties with the Trump campaign.
As Trump works to fast-track Comey\u2019s successor, lawmakers from both parties urged him to steer clear of any politicians for the job and say he must \u201cclean up the mess that he mostly created.\u201d
\u201cI think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally \u2014 and that\u2019s the big news here, is the Russian interference in our election system, \u201d said James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence. \u201cI think as well our institutions are under assault internally.\u201d
When he was asked, \u201cInternally, from the president?\u201d Clapper said, \u201cExactly.\u201d
Clapper spoke following Trump\u2019s sudden firing of Comey last week, which drew sharp criticism because it came amid the FBI\u2019s investigation into Russia\u2019s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Clapper said America\u2019s founding fathers had created three co-equal branches of government with checks and balances, but with Trump as president, that was now under assault and \u201ceroding.\u201d
The White House had no immediate comment on Clapper\u2019s remarks on a morning in which no White House aide appeared on the Sunday news shows to discuss Trump\u2019s firing.
Lawmakers from both parties reprimanded Trump\u2019s actions last week, which included shifting explanations from the White House for Comey\u2019s dismissal and an ominous tweet by Trump that warned Comey against leaks to the press because he may have \u201ctapes\u201d of their conversations. The lawmakers urged Trump to select a new FBI director without any political background and said the president would need to hand over to Congress any taped conversations with Comey, if they exist.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said promoting an FBI agent to lead the agency would allow the nation to \u201creset.\u201d He dismissed as less desirable at least two of the 14 candidates under consideration by Trump, former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, explaining that \u201cthese are not normal circumstances.\u201d
Rogers, an ex-FBI agent and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has drawn the backing of the FBI Agents Association. Cornyn is the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.
\u201cIt\u2019s now time to pick somebody who comes from within the ranks, or has such a reputation that has no political background at all that can go into the job on Day 1, \u201d the South Carolina Republican said. Asked whether it was the right time to have someone such as Rogers or Cornyn, Graham flatly said, \u201cno.\u201d
\u201cThe president has a chance to clean up the mess he mostly created, \u201d Graham said, adding, \u201cI have no evidence that the president colluded with the Russians at all … but we don\u2019 t know all the evidence yet.\u201d
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the new FBI director should certainly be someone \u201cnot of partisan background\u201d with \u201cgreat experience\u201d and \u201ccourage.\u201d He left open the possibility that Democrats might try and withdraw support for a new FBI director unless the Justice Department names a special prosecutor. Under rules of the Senate, Republicans could still confirm an FBI director with 51 votes. Republicans hold 52 seats in the chamber to Democrats\u2019 48.
Calling Trump\u2019s remarks about possible taped conversations \u201coutrageous, \u201d Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his panel or another congressional committee would \u201cabsolutely\u201d subpoena the tapes.
\u201cWe have got to make sure that these tapes, if they exist, don\u2019 t mysteriously disappear, \u201d he said.
Warner also said he hopes to have Comey testify in a public hearing before his committee. Comey earlier declined an invitation this week to testify in a closed hearing.
Less than a week after Trump fired Comey, the administration has interviewed at least eight candidates to be FBI director, and Trump has said a decision could come before he leaves Friday on his first overseas trip as president.
Trump abruptly fired Comey on Tuesday and later said Comey was a \u201cshowboat\u201d and \u201cgrandstander\u201d who was not doing a good job, drawing a firestorm of criticism. Trump said in an interview with NBC that the Russia investigation factored into his decision to fire Comey. The changing rationales the White House offered added an element of chaos to the president\u2019s action.
The FBI director serves a 10-year term but can be replaced by the president.
So far 14 people \u2014 lawmakers, attorneys and law enforcement officials among them \u2014 have emerged as candidates. Eight met at the Justice Department on Saturday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein.
The first candidate to arrive for interviews was Alice Fisher, a high-ranking Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
Also interviewed were:
Sessions has faced questions over whether his involvement in Comey\u2019s firing violates his pledge to recuse himself from investigations into Russian interference in the election.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Sessions and Rosenstein were involved in the interviews because the FBI director reports to them as attorney general and deputy attorney general.
Clapper and Schumer made their comments on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d; Graham spoke on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d; and Warner appeared on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week\u201d and \u201cFox News Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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