Morning Joe says FBI close to exposing the president: 'It's a criminal issue -- and Trump knows that'

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough believes President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey because he sensed the investigation was getting close to revealing whatever criminal actions he's trying to hide.

The "Morning Joe" host compared the situation to the Showtime series "Billions," which depicts a U.S. attorney pursuing a hedge fund billionaire named Bobby Axelrod, and he said the FBI had found strong evidence against Trump and his associates.

"The FBI has started pulling that string, and they are still pulling that string where it leads is not just an election issue, it is a criminal issue -- and Trump knows that," Scarborough said.

John Heilemann, the co-managing editor of Bloomberg Politics and an MSNBC political analyst, agreed that Comey's firing was not an irrational action or a political miscalculation, but rather an effort to stop or slow the FBI investigation into his ties to Russia.

"The reason he did this is not because he's out of his mind," Heilmann said. "He did this is because, as you said Joe, I think he recognizes -- he looked over at the FBI and said, this guy James Comey came to the White House, I asked him, if we believe this story, asked him for his loyalty, he wouldn't give me his loyalty. He's been investigating since last July, he's now taking daily briefings on this matter, rather than weekly, he's now asking for more prosecutors. Donald Trump knows what's at the heart of this. I don't know what that is, but he does, and he's saying this guy knows, too."

Scarborough said he's heard from FBI sources that the investigation had gathered steam in recent weeks, and he said Comey was fired in response to that development.

"They have already found the string and they are pulling on it, based on my contacts inside the FBI and they are starting to tug on that string, and they are going to keep tugging, keeping going, and it's accelerated because of the way he fired Comey, and he knows it," Scarborough said.

Co-host Mika Brzezinski said she was worried about the harm Trump had already done since his inauguration.

"Big picture, there's a lot of damage done to our country," she said. "It's not going to be okay anymore."

Scarborough agreed.

"Nobody is saying it's going to be okay, Mika," he said. "In fact, this is a constitutional crisis."