--- title: James Comey Fired: John McCain Says Scandal Will Continue description: Sen. John McCain warned Tuesday that the scandal surrounding President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey will continue canonical: https://time.com/4774333/john-mccain-james-comey-fired/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-10T18:09:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:46.203Z article:section: Politics og:title: John McCain on Comey Firing: 'This Scandal Is Going to Go On. I've Seen It Before' og:description: "I can't help but think that this is not a good thing for America" og:url: https://time.com/4774333/john-mccain-james-comey-fired/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6235cb6d3e2f1187/6988ccc30a4a2256519ce1bd/gettyimages-676855604.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: john-mccain-james-comey-fired og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John McCain on Comey Firing: 'This Scandal Is Going to Go On. I've Seen It Before' twitter:description: "I can't help but think that this is not a good thing for America" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6235cb6d3e2f1187/6988ccc30a4a2256519ce1bd/gettyimages-676855604.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain on Comey Firing: 'This Scandal Is Going to Go On. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. "I can't help but think that this is not a good thing for America"_ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 10, 2017 6:09 PM UTC by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 10, 2017 6:09 PM UTC Sen. John McCain warned a group of foreign diplomats Tuesday that the controvery surrounding President Donald Trump’s [firing of FBI Director James Comey](http://fortune.com/2017/05/09/donald-trump-james-comey-fired/) will continue. “This scandal is going to go on. I’ve seen it before,” McCain said to the Munich Security Conference core group, the [Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/05/10/john-mccain-on-comey-firing-there-will-be-more-shoes-to-drop/?tid=sm%5Ffb&utm%5Fterm=.72213961cfe0). “This is a centipede. I guarantee you there will be more shoes to drop, I can just guarantee it. There’s just too much information that we don’t have that will be coming out.” McCain did not say that the reason Comey was fired was to hinder the [FBI’s investigation](http://time.com/4773529/james-comey-fbi-trump-russia/) into possible ties between Russia and Trump’s campaign. However, he said if that was the intention behind the firing that the plan would fail. The Senator also compared the situation, [as others have](http://time.com/4773388/donald-trump-james-comey-fired-richard-nixon-saturday-night-massacre/), to the “Saturday Night Massacre,” in which President Richard Nixon fired the prosecutor investigating Watergate. [In a statement](https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/5/statement-by-senator-john-mccain-on-dismissal-of-fbi-director-james-comey) yesterday, McCain also called for a “special congressional committee to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 election” and that Comey’s termination “only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee.” “I can’t help but think that this is not a good thing for America,” McCain said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4774333/john-mccain-james-comey-fired/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4774333/john-mccain-james-comey-fired/"},"headline":"John McCain on Comey Firing: 'This Scandal Is Going to Go On. 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