Huckabee Sanders: Russia 'Rabbit Trail' Probe Not Part of Comey's Firing

FBI Director James Comey was not fired over the investigation into connections between President Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russians, but because of the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and to bring "credibility back" to the FBI, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted Wednesday.

Further, she said during a heated interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, Sanders believes eventually, people pushing for an investigation into Russian connections will "come to the same conclusion that everyone else has gone down this rabbit trail will come to, that there is no evidence of collusion."

In his letter to Comey, Trump said he was fired to restore "public trust and confidence" in the FBI, but did not directly mention Comey's role in investigating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

However, the White House also circulated a memo by Rosenstein that criticized how Comey handled the Clinton matter.

"I think it's real simple here," Sanders told MSNBC. "The deputy attorney general, a guy who has a stellar reputation was just confirmed 94-6, across the board has the respect of Democrats, Republicans, people in the Justice Department, made a very strong recommendation, the president followed it and made a quick and decisive action to fire James."

Further, she said, she knows the "media would love to report" that the firing came because of the Russian investigation, but if that is to continue, it will "continue whether Jim Comey is there or not."

Comey, she continued, "is a guy who had lost not only the respect and the credibility of people within the Justice Department, Democrats and Republicans alike have been calling for him to step down."

Show panelist Mark Halperin asked Sanders when Trump's opinion of Comey changed, as the president had praised him often for his handling of the Clinton case, but Sanders said the president's opinion of Comey happened "over a period of time."

"The bottom line was he had lost the respect, not only of the rank and file within the FBI — Democrats and Republicans alike — in a town like Washington where you can't get Democrats and Republicans to agree on much of anything," said Sanders.

"I think you can see across the board generally that most people thought Comey had become more of a distraction, he was incapable of carrying out the job he needed to do and it was time for him to go."

Tuesday night, Sanders told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that it was time to move on from the investigation into Russia and the 2016 election, and on Wednesday, she insisted that "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough himself said there was "no evidence of collusion," prompting him to argue back with her.

"I said there's no obvious evidence of collusion out there right now," said Scarborough. "If there were that obvious evidence of collusion, it would have already been leaked by now. Doesn't that just prove we need an independent counsel to investigate this?"

"Not at all," Sanders said. "We've had almost an entire year that they have spent, the House committees, the Senate committees, the FBI, everyone has looked into this and everybody comes to the same conclusion."

Another show panelist, Mike Barnicle, urged Sanders to "skip over your investigative prowess" and talk about Trump's letter, in which he told Comey that he appreciates "you informing me on three separate occasions I am not under investigation" and asked her who approved the letter.

"I don't think there was a head count done in terms of how many people read the letter, but I think it's pretty clear that the president along with, again, I go back to the deputy attorney general," she said.

Sanders also insisted Wednesday that had Clinton been elected, "she would have immediately fired James Comey. I'm sure it is the very people that would have been cheering and celebrating Comey being dismissed will be the very ones saying he shouldn't have been."

The decision came quickly, without a replacement lined up, because Trump had received Rosenstein's report "that is so clear, and a recommendation by someone like the deputy attorney general, you have no choice but to act.

"There was no reason to sit around and wait and it was time to move forward. The deputy director of the FBI will step in as the acting director for the time being and so to pretend like there is pure chaos and no leadership I think is a little bit disingenuous."