Senator Burr is putting country before party

Published May 12, 2017

by Thomas Mills, Politics North Carolina, May 10, 2017.

We need to thank Senator Richard Burr. Yesterday, he showed that he’ll put country before party. While other GOP Senators were making excuses for Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey, Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, offered a strong rebuke.

“I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey’s termination. I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee,” Burr said through a press a release. His release was timely, didn’t mince words and implies that there’s much more to be uncovered in the investigation into ties between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

Earlier in the week, Burr said that he would issue subpoenas if necessary to compel people to cooperate. Several Trump campaign officials ignored deadlines to turn over documents to the Intelligence Committee. Burr is clearly taking his role seriously.

Right now, we need more elected officials who will set aside their partisanship to get to the bottom of Russia’s interference in our elections. Too many partisans on both sides are rushing to judgement, either hoping for impeachment or claiming a witch hunt. The stakes here are too high for partisan divisions.

According to testimony of former Director of Intelligence James Clapper, we can expect Russia to continue to meddle in elections here and around the world. That’s unacceptable and we need to find out if anyone collaborated with Putin and his thugs. There should be a zero tolerance for people who would cooperate with a foreign power to interfere with our elections for either political or financial gain.

Putin is not pro-Republican or pro-Democrat. He’s anti-American, anti-West and anti-democratic. That he would try to manipulate our political system for his gain should rally patriots of all stripes to defend our country. Senator Burr clearly wants to get to the bottom of his involvement. President Trump’s criticism and interference should be raising flags, not rallying his troops.

Given Trump’s apparent obstructionism through critical tweets and now firing Comey, we need an independent investigation. Republican Congressman Justin Amash has called for one. So has Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Senator John McCain seems to be leaning that way. I hope Senator Burr will join the chorus.

For now, though, let’s just applaud his patriotism.

http://www.politicsnc.com/senator-burr-is-putting-country-before-party/