Kellyanne Conway says it's 'inappropriate' to question timing of Comey's firing
"You want to question the timing of when he hires, when he fires," Kellyanne Conway said on CNN. "It's inappropriate. He'll do it when he wants to."
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, said in a combative television interview Wednesday morning that it was "inappropriate" to question the timing of Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.
"You want to question the timing of when he hires, when he fires," Conway said on CNN. "It's inappropriate. He'll do it when he wants to."
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo had pointed out that the sudden firing of Comey came as the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into Russia's interference with the 2016 U.S. presidential election is heating up. Comey was overseeing the probe, which includes connections between Trump campaign officials and associates and the Russians.
Conway insisted that the Russia investigation had nothing to do with Trump's decision to terminate Comey.
"Especially on your network, you always want to talk about Russia, Russia, Russia," Conway said. She added that the Russia probe has been "a seven-month distraction."
Conway said Trump fired Comey at the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the FBI, because he had lost credibility within the bureau. She singled out past comments by Democratic leaders criticizing Comey for his handling of last year's FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state.
"Yet now they want him to be a martyr?" Conway said, suggesting that Democratic leaders were hypocritical for now criticizing Trump's firing of Comey.
In a heated exchange with Cuomo, Conway said, "None of us want to re-litigate the campaign. We won it."
Just two weeks ago, ahead of his 100-day mark, Trump distributed color copies of a county-by-county map showing his electoral college victory during Oval Office interviews with the Washington Post and Reuters, boasting of the size of his win.
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