CNN's Jeff Toobin calls Comey firing a 'grotesque abuse of power

Former Federal Prosecutor and CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin absolutely torched President Trump for firing FBI Director James Comey Tuesday while an investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government was ongoing.

"This is an extraordinary moment in American history," Wolf Blitzer said, asking Toobin to comment.

"You bet it is, Wolf," he responded, "and it's a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States. This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-Democracies, that when there is an investigation that reaches near the president of the United States, or  the leader of a non-Democracy, they fire the people that are in charge of the investigation."

"I have not seen anything like this since October 20th, 1973, when President Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor," he warned.

"This is something that is not within the American political tradition," Toobin continued. "That firing led indirectly, but certainly, to the resignation of President Nixon, and this is very much in this tradition."

"This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is something that is completely outside how American law is supposed to work," he concluded.

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on Comey's firing: "This is not normal" https://t.co/ASBNQrCXoc

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics)

May 9, 2017

Comey had also been criticized for an imprecise statement he made before Congress accusing Huma Abedin of committing "hundreds and thousands" of acts of improper document management during her time as Hillary Clinton's aide while she was Secretary of State.

Reaction to the firing has flooded social media, ranging from praise to calls of fascism and comparisons to Richard Nixon.