Chafee: Comey Investigation a "Non-Issue" Compared to Iraq War

Chafee: Comey Investigation a "Non-Issue" Compared to Iraq War

Former U.S. Senator and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee called out the level of Congressional - and media - scrutiny being paid to former FBI Director James Comey's firing, as opposed to what he said was the lack of attention paid to the rationales made by Bush Administration officials for going to war in Iraq. 

"Following this supposed Russian involvement makes me scratch my head, because I don't think that anybody in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania...Rhode Island...was affected by any Russian interference when they voted for Clinton, Trump, Stein, Johnson, or anyone they wrote in," said Chafee, when he appeared on GoLocal LIVE on Thursday.

Pressure on Comey as Issue

"To me it's a non-issue, compared to lack of focus with [President] George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, who got us into war in Iraq, that has released ISIS, a war in Syria, a refugee crisis in Europe," continued Chafee. "Where was the mainstream media then? [Where was] Congress asking [Colin] Powell, 'Why didn't you go to UN?' Or Condoleeza Rice, "Why did you say mushroom cloud?" 

"Whether what happened with what Trump said in the Oval Office, I think this is serious to Mr. Comey," said Chafee. "If Trump was pressuring [Comey] to back off --  that's serious.  I don't agree with Donald Trump. But I'm mystified by this sledgehammer approach on what I consider a non-issue."

"The cover up is worse than the crime," said Chafee, when asked about any comparisons to Watergate. 'The pressure on Comey is going to be the issue. Did Trump pressure him to back off?"