COMEY TESTIMONY LIVE COVERAGE

UPDATE 9:50 AM PDT

Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) wraps up the hearing, adding that the Senate Intelligence Committee will reconvene in a closed door session at 1 p.m. ET in order to discuss classified information that wasn’t covered in the public hearing. Burr kept members of the panel to their seven minute alloted speaking times. As a result, the hearing ended on time.

Burr thanks Comey for his participation and praises him as “someone who loves this country and tells it like it is.”

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) issues the sign-off for Democrats, saying that there are still a lot of unanswered question. Warner adds that Congress will get to the bottom of the matter.

UPDATE 9:45 AM PDT

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) begins his line of questioning. He asks Comey why the FBI made a public announcement exonerating Hillary Clinton over the email investigation while deliberately keeping it open ended when it comes to Trump.

Comey says that the Clinton investigation was put to the rest while the investigation into Trump campaign-Russia collusion is still ongoing.

“When I left [the FBI] this investigation is still ongoing as far as I know,” Comey confirms.

McCain finally gets to the question on everyone’s mind. In his opening statement, Comey said that Trump thought he was due loyalty because of that “thing.” McCain asks what the hell Trump meant by that “thing.” Comey says he didn’t know at the time and doesn’t know today. McCain says that he’s bewildered over the fact that Comey didn’t bother to ask what the president meant by that.

UPDATE 9:40 AM PDT

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R) is up now.

He asks about Loretta Lynch. She has become the unlikely star (dare we say villain) of the hearing. Comey is asked whether or not Lynch’s involvement in the Clinton email investigation posed a “conflict of interest.” Comey answers in the affirmative. Cornyn points out that Lynch didn’t recuse herself during the investigation despite repeated demands by Republicans. Coryny asks Comey if he thought a special counsel should have been appointed to investigation the Clinton emails, given Lynch’s “conflict of interest.”

“I considered whether I should call for the appointment of special counsel but I knew there was no case there…” answers Comey. Comey suggest that if there was a case, he may have gone public with a demand for a special prosecutor the same way he did with regard to Trump.

UPDATE 9:30 AM PDT

Daniel Richman has identified himself as the “friend” Comey leaked his memos to, according to Reuters. Comey said during the hearing that following Trump’s tweets about “tapes” he felt it necessary to share his side of the story. So he gave his memos to a Columbia Law School professor (Richman) to pass the information over to the press.

UPDATE 9:25 AM PDT

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a red-state Democrat, says that he deferred to his constituents and solicited questions from them, trying to create the perception that the hearing is an example of democracy at work.

Comey is asked again about whether or not Trump colluded with the Russians. Predictably, Comey declines to answer, saying that special counselor Mueller will get to the bottom of the matter.

Comey is asked about whether or not Trump’s comments can be seen as obstruction of justice. Again, Comey defers to Mueller. “I don’t know. That’s Bob Mueller’s job.”

Next up is Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). Cotton alludes to Comey’s work as the U.S. Deputy Attorney General and points to the fact that Comey issued a letter of resignation back then over a matter he found troubling. Cotton then ask why Comey didn’t just resign this time around with Trump. Comey says he didn’t “find a circumstance” where he felt it was necessary to resign.

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), posturing as a Democratic presidential candidate ahead of 2020, compares Trump’s asking of Comey drop the Flynn investigation to a robber holding the gun to the head of a victim and issuing demands. Harris presents the statement as an assertion. Comey doesn’t respond to the extreme analogy.

UPDATE 9:10 AM PDT

Comey is asked about Obama’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch. He says that Lynch insisted that he call the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails a “matter” rather than an “investigation.” Comey indicates that he was glad the press accurately called it an “investigation” rather than Lynch’s preferred euphemism “matter.” Comey’s testimony here lends credence to the theory that Lynch may have interfered with the Clinton investigation (note: Lynch’s now-infamous protracted meeting with Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton during the presidential campaign).

UPDATE 9:00 AM PDT

After stressing the fact that the intelligence community has little doubt that Russia “interfered” with the U.S. election (“They did it with purpose, they did it with sophistication…. There is no fuzz on that”), Comey by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) why he chose to leak information through a third party, “a friend” at Columbia Law School.

Blunt suggests that Comey didn’t take responsibility for the leak, choosing instead to create a level of confusion surrounding his state of mind after the infamous firing.

Comey says that he gave his “friend” his own notes and own recollection of events in order to prompt an independent investigation.

Blunt asks why Comey didn’t just come forward and present the information himself rather than going through an intermediary.

“I was going out of town with my wife to hide” after the highly publicized firing, Comey says. The media were outside my house like “seagulls” looking to get fed, they’d come back for me, Comey insists.

Senator Angus King (I-ME) asks a question about Trump denying the fact that he told Comey to shut down the Flynn investigation. Comey again says it happens. King then asks about the specifics of the Flynn investigation, Comey says he can’t answer those type of questions in an open session.

UPDATE 8:30 AM PDT

Comey says senior FBI officials were shocked by Trump’s ask regarding Flynn.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is next. He asks Comey whether Trump ordered him to drop the Flynn investigation on matters not involving the Russian campaign. Rubio asks why Comey didn’t report the conversation. Comey says he should have said, “Mr. President, that’s wrong…In the moment, that didn’t come to my mind.” Rubio says he perceives “the cloud” to be the Russian investigation in general, but the specific ask was that Trump wasn’t personally under investigation. “So he was asking you to do what you have done here today?” Rubio asks. “Yes,” says Comey. Comey explains he didn’t want to say it publicly while heading the FBI because he might have to update and reverse himself.

Rubio asks Comey about Trump’s upset at deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe regarding McCabe’s Democratic connections. Comey says he told Trump that “Andy is a total pro.” Rubio asks if Trump was trying to trade support for McCabe for new favors. Comey says, “That was possible, but it was so out of context that I didn’t have a clear view of what it was.”

Rubio points out that Trump said he wanted Comey to investigate Trump’s satellites. Comey says, “That was the sentiment he was expressing.” Rubio says Trump asked for three things: loyalty; the Mike Flynn thing to go; can you tell the American people what leaders in Congress and you already know, that I’m not personally under investigation?

Rubio asks why it hasn’t been leaked that Trump wasn’t personally under investigation. Comey says, “I don’t know. I find matters briefed to the Gang of Eight stay pretty tightly under wraps.” Rubio asks who at the FBI was briefed on all of this. Rubio is obviously attempting to ferret out the leakers from the FBI on these conversations.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asks if Comey felt his job was contingent on him helping Trump out. Comey says he didn’t know what the trade was, exactly. Wyden asks what the attorney general’s was with the Russians that would have led the FBI not to inform him about Trump’s comments? Comey said they were sure Sessions would recuse himself. Wyden asks if Trump had gotten what he wanted, what would have happened to the investigation; Comey says “we would have closed any investigation into General Flynn…we would have dropped an open criminal investigation.”

Wyden asks if Pence was aware of the concerns about Flynn before Flynn was forced to resign. Comey says yes, and he knows from acting attorney general Yates. Wyden now trying to build a case against Pence.

Comey says he has no idea who recommended or who was involved in his firing.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) takes up questioning. Comey says he didn’t want Trump thinking he was briefing him on the Russian dossier because he wanted to hold it over Trump in some way. That was the context in which Comey said Trump wasn’t being personally investigated.

Comey reiterates that Trump was not under investigation when Comey was fired.

Comey states that after Trump’s tweet about tapes of the meetings, he asked his friend from Columbia Law to release news that he had memos of the meetings, saying it would help prompt a special counsel.

Comey says he doesn’t remember any interactions with Trump about the Russian interference in the election.

UPDATE 8:00 AM PDT

Comey says he was concerned that Trump might lie about their meetings, which is why he decided to document them. “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting,” he explained. Comey further explained that he interacted with President Obama twice, as deputy attorney general he met with President Bush, and with neither president did he document the meeting.

Comey says that “inevitably [Trump’s] behavior, that conduct, would fall within the scope” of an investigation, but that Trump was not under investigation.

Warner asks Comey whether Trump was attempting to threaten Comey’s job when they first met after Trump’s election. Comey stated in his testimony that Trump wanted to establish a “patronage relationship.” Comey now says, “The president begins by wanting to talk about my job, and I’m thinking, three times you’ve already asked me to stay…he’s looking to get something in exchange for granting my request to stay in the job.”

Comey says this made him uneasy, because the reason for a ten-year-term is so that people don’t feel that political loyalty is owed. “The statute of justice has a blindfold because you’re not supposed to be peeking out to see whether your patron is pleased or not,” Comey says.

Warner asks Trump about the February 14 meeting, at which Trump allegedly asked Comey about letting Flynn go. He points out that Comey wrote that memo so it was unclassified. Warner asks Trump if he asked him to interfere on any other investigation; Comey says no.

Senator James Risch (R-ID) takes up the questioning. Risch asks Comey about Trump saying “I hope you can let this go” to Trump about Flynn. Risch asks, “He did not direct you to let it go…he did not order you to let it go.” Comey says, “Not in his words, no.” Risch asks whether this is a crime. Comey says, “I took it as a direction…I took it as this is what he wants me to do.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asks Comey about Trump’s request for loyalty. Comey says, “Our relationship didn’t get off to a great start…this didn’t improve the relationship. He was asking for something and I was refusing to give it.” Feinstein asks if Comey thinks the Russia investigation played a role in his firing. “Yes, because I heard the president say so,” Comey said. Feinstein asks about the “request” to let Flynn go. Comey states, “Flynn had been forced to resign the day before. The controversy around General Flynn at that point in time was centered on whether he had lied to the Vice President about his conversations with the Russians…On the 14th, the president makes specific reference to that.” Feinstein calls Comey “big” and “strong” and asks why Comey didn’t ask Trump to stop talking about this. Comey says, “I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took it in, and the only thing I could think to say…Look, I’ve seen the tweet about tapes, Lordy, I hope there are tapes…I remember saying, ‘I agree he’s a good guy.'”

Comey says Trump was frustrated that the Russia investigation was taking up so much time and energy, and it was making it difficult to focus on other priorities. “The ask was to get it out that I, the president, was not under personal investigation,” Comey says.

UPDATE 7:31 AM PDT

It’s not worth covering the bloviating opening statements from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr or ranking member Democratic Mark Warner. Instead of reading his prepared testimony into the record, Comey gave a short statement blasting the Trump administration for his firing. The key line: he said that Trump “defamed” him and the FBI, and added, “those were lies.”

Being questioned by Burr, he said there was no evidence that the Russians changed any votes in the 2016 election, and that Trump did not ask him to drop the Russian investigation. That destroys the Russian narrative thoroughly.

He also acknowledged that the special prosecutor investigation into Russian election interference would cover obstruction of justice.

Comey explained that Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch told him to address the Hillary Clinton investigation as a “matter” rather than an “investigation,” which “confused me.”

ORIGINAL

So it begins.

On Thursday, the most highly-anticipated testimony of the past decade began on Capitol Hill. The media are out over their skis — they’ve been claiming for months that President Trump colluded with the Russians to pervert the 2016 election. But Comey’s planned testimony yesterday explained that Trump himself did nothing to shut down any investigation into such events, and that Trump didn’t lie when he said Comey had assured him he was not under personal investigation.

Nonetheless, heavy day drinking is happening in Washington D.C. as the Democrats prepared their celebratory toasts over Trump’s supposed demise. It isn’t going to happen, at least not today.