jeff sessions. bot richard burr the republican senator leading the senate investigator into the possible russian ties said he is troubled by the timing and reasoning of director comey's termination. blaine alexander has more on this story. >> reporter: james comey went to los angeles as fbi director, tonight he's flying back to washington as a private citizen fired by president trump. >> the president trump made a decision that should be applauded by all members of congress. the public by in large will agree he lost the ability to lead the fbi. >> reporter: tonight comey outraged. his departure coming as the fbi investigates trump campaign ties to russia and election tampering. >> are people going to suspect coverup. absolutely. >> comey was not fired because of hillary. comey was fired because of the russians. the timing makes this clear. >> reporter: in his termination letter, the president said he wanted to restore public trust,