President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey during the agency's investigation into those close to him adds to "a crisis of public trust" going back to the 1960's, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said Monday.
"I think we have a crisis of public trust right now and we need to restore that," the senator said on "CBS This Morning." "The FBI's a really special institution, and the American people need to know they can believe in it.
"The FBI director has a 10-year term for a reason, because it's supposed to be insulated from politics. I want to restore the rule of law but also the institutional conventions around that so there's more trust."
Sasse called Comey "a fundamentally honorable man," but it is fair to question the choices he made during the election, though the director of the FBI "is not supposed to be in a political chain of command, and that's the appearance of this situation and it's timing."
The senator noted the "crisis of public trust" began in the 60s, but has sped up in recent years – as shown in Congress' poor approval ratings in national polls. He added Comey's firing "contributes to that erosion."
The interview concluded with Sasse deflecting a question about a potential primary challenge to Trump in 2020.
"I've got the only two jobs I want: Raising three little kids and serving Nebraskans," he said.
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