Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Bernie Sanders agreed that the latest bombshell development involving the Trump White House is “sad” for the country and called for more answers, but they disagreed on what to do next.
The two 2016 presidential candidates sat down for a CNN town hall Tuesday night, just hours after the New York Times and CNN reported that then-FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo in February that President Donald Trump asked him to end the investigation of national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Kasich, a Republican governor from Ohio, said “this is not a time for Republicans to hide” but also argued it’s not a “time for Democrats to exploit.”
“I saw that Speaker (Paul) Ryan said some things tonight about getting to the bottom line,” he said. “Frankly, I think he should be more aggressive. I think he should speak out more and hopefully he will.”
A spokesperson for Ryan released a statement earlier Tuesday night saying. “We need to have all the facts, and it is appropriate for the House Oversight Committee to request this memo,” AshLee Strong said.
Kasich said he was open to the idea of a select special committee but wasn’t ready to join Democrats in their call for a special prosecutor.
“The things that have swirled around this White House are the reasons that caused me not to move forward and support him both in the primary and going to that Republican convention,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, who moderated the discussion.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, likened such a request from the President to the definition of “obstruction of justice” and reiterated his calls for a special prosecutor to get involved in the probe of alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Kasich was a vocal critic of Trump throughout the campaign last year and declined to attend the GOP convention that took place in his home state of Ohio.
After speaking to Trump on February 14, Comey was so appalled by the request that he wanted to document it, sources told CNN. Comey shared it with FBI senior officials, according to sources.
“I hope you can let this go,” Comey wrote, quoting the President.
CNN has not viewed the memo but sources described it to CNN.