A Republican senator says lawmakers considered bringing articles of impeachment against FBI director James Comey but decided against doing so because it would not have been good politics heading into November’s election.

The Daily Caller obtained audio of a Sept. 30 interview between GOP Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and host Michael Pol on WMXI 98.1 FM in Hattiesburg discussing Comey and his decision not to recommend prosecution against Clinton over her emails while secretary of state.

Asked about Comey during the interview, Wicker said: “Well, frankly he should have been impeached. We decided that that would be a distraction in this election year. And so the House made the decision not to do that. And I think it probably would have — it would have hurt our viewpoint in the long run to do that.”

Added Wicker: “But I think he’s shown he should be removed from office. And frankly I think if Donald Trump is elected, he’ll be leaving before the inauguration.”

“I’ve been very disappointed,” Wicker said. “And it seems to me that really this should be an issue now for the America people. And frankly, if the Trump administration would get back to that sort of thing, I think Mr. Trump will be elected president of the United States. Because Hillary Clinton has shown that she believes she is above the law and this director, who is an appointee of the president, has given her a pass.”

“I want to know my everybody got immunity and no one was prosecuted,” Wicker said of the FBI email investigation. “That’s not the reason you give people immunity. You give somebody immunity so that they can tell the truth, that leads to the principals being indicted. It doesn’t make sense. And you’re right to shine the light on it as a journalist.”

UPDATE: After this story published, Sen. Roger Wicker’s office told The Daily Caller the senator believed he was talking about the case of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen — and not Comey — when he spoke of impeachment.

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