Sen. Elizabeth Warren expressed little doubt Tuesday night about her view of the reasoning behind President Donald Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey.

“Comey was not fired because of Hillary, Comey was fired because of the Russians,” Warren said during an appearance on All In with Chris Hayes. “The timing makes this, I think, entirely clear.”

Warren said Comey’s sacking combined with the president’s previous firings of former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara made it clear to her “what’s going on.”

“Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone coming any place close to an active investigation into the relationship between the Russians, the Trump campaign, and Donald Trump himself,” she said.


Warren pointed to the timing of the director’s dismissal as well, citing Trump’s praising of the Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation during the 2016 campaign.

“Now to turn around months later and say, ‘Oh yeah, that was just terrible.’ Nah, c’mon,” she said. “There’s nobody left in America that believes that Donald Trump fired James Comey because James Comey was mean to Hillary Clinton.”

The Massachusetts senator called for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint an independent prosecutor to head the probe, a demand that has been made by many members of the Bay State delegation.

Warren also called for partisanship to be set aside, saying the situation is one that transcends politics and party affiliation.

“No one in America is above the law, and that includes Donald Trump,” she said.