What James Comey's Testimony Will Really Mean
Washington was virtually quaking with excitement on Thursday as fired FBI director James Comey took the stand to testify in front of the Senate intelligence committee about the events leading up to his firing. The testimony and his written statement were full of salacious revelations, but what will it all really mean at the end of the day?
Comey's Testimony Will Demand A Sworn Response From Trump
Comey repeatedly accused President Trump of lying, and worse, asking him to cease an active investigation. The accusations are serious enough to demand a substantive response from Trump himself:
[T]here is no question that his appearance dramatically reshaped what already has been a debilitating problem for the administration… Comey has made life more uncomfortable for the president…For nearly three hours, the fired former director took questions from senators from both parties… the effect of his appearance was to put the president on the defensive in ways that will demand a sworn and substantive rebuttal in some forum at some point.
But The Collusion-Theory Cart Seems To Be Pulling Away From Donald Trump
As Chris Matthews put it in his post-testimony analysis:
The assumption of the critics of the president, of his pursuers, you might say, is that somewhere along the line in the last year is the president had something to do with colluding with the Russians… to affect the election in some way… And yet what came apart this morning was that theory… Flynn wasn't central to the Russian investigation… if that's not the case, where's the there-there?
[Mediaite]
Comey's Admission Of Leaking His Memos Opens Him To Attacks From Trump
During his testimony, Comey admitted to leaking his own memos after writing them down on a government computer. Jonath Turley writes about the shaky ethical can legal ground this put him on:
The admission of leaking the memos is problematic given the overall controversy involving leakers undermining the Administration. Indeed, it creates a curious scene of a former director leaking material against the President after the President repeatedly asked him to crack down on leakers… Besides being subject to Nondisclosure Agreements, Comey falls under federal laws governing the disclosure of classified and nonclassified information. Assuming that the memos were not classified.. there is 18 U.S.C. § 641 which makes it a crime to steal, sell, or convey "any record, voucher, money, or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof."
Jeff Sessions Should Get Ready To Answer A Lot Of Questions
In his closed-door testimony, James Comey told the intelligence committee that he believes Jeff Sessions may have had a third undisclosed meeting with the Russians according to Russian intelligence.
Former FBI Director James Comey told senators in a closed hearing this afternoon that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had a third interaction with Russia's ambassador to the US…The information is based in part on Russian-to-Russian intercepts where the meeting was discussed… But the sources said it is possible the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, was exaggerating the extent of the encounter.
During his testimony, Comey also expressed that he believed that Sessions should have recused himself from matters on the Russia investigation weeks before he actually did. Democrats say they'll grill sessions on these matters during his hearings on the Justice Department budget next Tuesday:
The Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing is billed as a discussion on the Justice Department budget, but Democrats say they will use the opportunity to grill their former Senate colleague about his alleged contacts with Russians and the controversial firing of former FBI Directory James Comey, among other hot-button issues.
[CNN]
Partisanship Isn't Dissolving Any Time Soon
Despite pointed questions from both Democrats and Republicans, reactions to the testimony clearly fell along partisan lines:
The RNC, which blasted out rapid reaction to undermine Comey throughout the hearing, cast it as a snore — except for the parts that seemed to bolster the president's narrative… Some Republican lawmakers delivered quick defenses of the president's conduct… Others, like Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. Lindsey Graham, downplayed Trump's interactions with Comey as potentially improper, saying they were likely driven by naivete, rather than malice… Democrats, on the other hand, stepped closer to the threshold of accusing Trump of committing a crime.
[Politico]
