The now-former FBI Director James Comey is set to testify before a Senate committee on Thursday to talk about the Russia investigation and his firing by President Trump. Some of the allegations are that Comey could testify, under oath, that Trump leaned on him to end the investigation into Michael Flynn, but those reports have since dissipated. In truth, nobody really knows what Comey is going to say tomorrow and the entire political world is waiting in suspense.
Date and Time
Date: Thursday, June 8, 2017
Time: 10am ET (9am CT, 8am MT, 7am PT)
How to watch the Comey hearing:
We will carry the live stream here, and it will be on cable news and broadcast networks.
The Hill reports on the highly anticipated testimony:
James Comey’s appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday will be the most dramatic congressional testimony in decades.
Comey, who was fired as FBI director last month, could inflict real damage on President Trump with his testimony — and for a few hours, he’ll have the nation’s full attention.
Broadcast TV networks, as well as their cable counterparts, have cleared their schedules to provide wall-to-wall live coverage of the hearing, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. CNN has even started a countdown clock.
Comey has said it will be the only public testimony he will give on recent events, according to the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr (R-N.C.).The feverish atmosphere ahead of the former FBI director’s appearance is unlike anything seen in Washington in decades.
As noted, the broadcast networks such as CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox plan to carry the hearing live. Cable news will carry it, of course, but to have the big networks joining in will make this a widely watched event.
To make Thursday even more entertaining, there is a threat that President Trump could be live-tweeting during the Comey hearing:
Washington Post reporter Robert Costa tweeted on Tuesday that he had been “told by two WH sources that Pres. Trump does not plan to put down Twitter on Thursday. May live tweet if he feels the need to respond.”
Truly amazing times in which we live, this whole thing could turn into a circus, though some would call it that already.
A report from ABC News just days ago downplayed the impact of Comey’s testimony regarding how likely he is to implicate the President with an obstruction of justice charge:
The over-arching question on Thursday’s testimony is whether Comey will outline conduct on Trump’s part that comes close to obstruction of justice.
On Tuesday, ABC News reported — citing “a source familiar with Comey’s thinking” — that he would not make such an allegation himself.
But the source told the news organization that Comey “is not going to Congress to make accusations about the president’s intent, instead he’s there to share his concerns.”
With all the hype surrounding this hearing, my gut is telling me that there won’t be any major bombshells, instead I bet this hearing will create more questions than answers. Comey is going to be careful not to incimrinate or hurt himself in any way, but I also doubt that he’s going to go out of his way to implicate the President. Instead I imagine we’ll get a lot of mild answers and insinuations, but things that fall short of anything that looks like Comey is saying the President attempted to obstruct justice.
The bottom line is that you need to tune in Thursday to find out. The hearing begins at 10am ET and we’ll carry the live stream tomorrow morning right here for open discussion.
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