This is what U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry told a TV station about the upcoming selection of a new FBI director: “It needs to be somebody with impeccable credentials,” Thornberry told local affiliate KCIT about his ideal FBI replacement. “It needs to be somebody who has trust across the aisle, widespread trust who is a professional and with that I think largely this controversy will die down.”

Hmm. Well, I believe I’ll disagree with the Republican lawmaker, who happens also to represent yours truly in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The selection of an FBI director to succeed James Comey won’t by itself allow “this controversy” to wither away and die.

There needs to be a lot of investigating completed before we start to put this matter in our rearview mirror. The president cannot appoint a yes man, a lackey, a hack. He needs a tough prosecutor, someone who is independent and fearless.

Thornberry is right about the need for someone with “trust across the aisle.” How does an FBI director gain that trust? By demonstrating resistance against the White House and from the president.

Texans in Congress mostly silent

The FBI boss needs to continue the search for the whole truth into whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian hackers who every intelligence expert in American has concluded tried to influence the 2016 election.

If a vigorous and thorough search clears the president, only then will it “die down.”