Yesterday President Trump took the dramatic step of firing FBI Director James Comey, a move that many — in particular the editorial board of the New York Times — are declaring a turning point in this presidency. The more conservative Wall Street Journal is taking a "better now than never" stance on the firing, while the Washington Post is saying "the cloud hanging over the White House just got bigger and darker."

Below, reactions from some Bay Area politicians (and one from down south) to the news, via KQED and Twitter:


Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove)
“This is serious, this isn’t about a Democrat or a Republican, this is about a bad man in the office. A fellow that has shown his inability to understand the nuances and the way in which government works, and even the Constitution, to say nothing of public policy. So we’ve got to get to the bottom of the Russian thing, understand the emoluments clause and that the graft and corruption in this administration is beyond anything we’ve seen since the Teapot Dome scandal in the early 1900s.”

Rep. Scott Peters (D-La Jolla)
“Firing law enforcement officers who may be investigating you or your associates and then appointing their replacements is something that happens in dictatorships - not in the United States of America. This move from the President is breathtaking in its brazen disregard for the independence of our justice system. Republican members of Congress who fail to stand up against this are complicit in this assault on our democracy.

“The founding fathers made Congress a check on the power of the Presidency. That check only functions when it is used without regard for political party. Congress - Democrats and Republicans - must stand up in a bipartisan defense of our institutions and insist that a special prosecutor be appointed before confirming a new director.

“Never before has it been clearer that the integrity of our democracy depends on an independent commission to investigate Russian interference in our election and a special prosecutor at the Department of Justice to follow an investigation to wherever - and whomever - it leads. Anyone who stands in the way of an independent investigation denies the American people the answers they deserve.”