memeorandum: Initial Comments on James Comey's Written Testimony (Bwittes/Lawfare)

8:35 PM ET, June 7, 2017

Top Items:

Bwittes / Lawfare:

Initial Comments on James Comey's Written Testimony — James Comey's seven-page written statement, released by the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon in connection with Comey's impending testimony tomorrow, draws no conclusions, makes no allegations, and indeed, expresses no opinions.

Discussion: Axios, Mother Jones, Vox, Business Insider, The Federalist, NPR, New York Magazine, Mashable, ThinkProgress and The Week

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

West Wing aides fearful of directly attacking Comey — The White House and its allies have scrambled to create a robust outside operation to punch at FBI Director James Comey during his high-stakes testimony on Thursday, but West Wing aides — fearful that they could get further sucked …

Discussion: ABC News, Political Wire and Axios

Murray Waas / Vox:

3 senior FBI officials can vouch for Comey's story about Trump — Sources: McCabe, Rybicki, and Baker could corroborate the ex-director's claims that the president asked him to back off investigating Michael Flynn. — One by one this winter, then-FBI Director James B. Comey pulled aside three …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Business Insider, Axios, New York Magazine, CNN, Political Wire and Washington Post

David Ferguson / Raw Story:

CNN legal analyst on Comey testimony: 'If that's not obstruction of justice, I don't know what is' — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reacted on Wednesday to ousted FBI Director James Comey's pre-filed testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee …

Discussion: Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Media Matters for America and AOL

Yoni Appelbaum / The Atlantic:

Comey's Duty to Correct — Former FBI Director James Comey believes that when he offers Congress assurances about an ongoing investigation, and those claims cease to be true, he has a duty to correct the record. His willingness to act on that belief may well have tipped the 2016 election to Donald Trump.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Colin Packham / Reuters:

Watergate ‘pales’ compared with Trump-Russia: former U.S. intelligence head — The Watergate scandal pales in comparison to events in Washington surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump and alleged links between his campaign and Russia, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Wednesday.

Discussion: NBC News, ABC, Axios, NPR, Mediaite, RedState, Common Dreams, The Week, Fox News Insider, IJR, Shakesville, Politico, Political Wire, Sky News and Talking Points Memo

Jake Gibson / Fox News: Comey testimony ‘closely coordinated’ with special counsel, source says

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Christie: Trump's exchanges with Comey and other officials ‘normal New York City conversation’

Discussion: RedState

Hanna Choi / WTOP:
DC bars to open early for Comey hearing watch parties

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gizmodo, Daily Wire, Breitbart, Washingtonian, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times and The Week

Bloomberg:
Comey Recounts Uneasy Meetings With Trump, Demands for Loyalty

Discussion: Mashable

Associated Press:
The Latest: Pence cancels appearance on ‘NewsHour’

Discussion: Axios

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: Taking Stock of Trump/Russia on The Eve of Comey's Testimony

Edward Morrissey / The Week:
James Comey's credibility problem

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Politico, Young Conservatives and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

James B. Comey / CNN:
READ: James Comey's prepared testimony

Discussion: Vox, Shareblue, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Boing Boing

Tim Marcin / Newsweek:
DONALD TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATING IS BETTER THAN BILL CLINTON'S AT THIS POINT IN HIS FIRST TERM

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Daily Wire, The Week, RedState and The Daily Caller

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Comey Confirms He Thrice Told President Trump He Was Not Being Investigated

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, The Guardian, Hot Air and New York Magazine

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
‘I expect loyalty,’ Trump told Comey, according to written testimony

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, IJR, Power Line, News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO, Reuters, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and Outside the Beltway

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost: Here's What James Comey Will Say About Trump's Attempt To Interfere With FBI Probe

The Daily Beast:

White House Staff, Congress Blindsided by FBI Pick Announcement … A number of senior Trump officials learned of the president's pick to lead the FBI the same way everyone else did: on Twitter. — President Donald Trump's top communications staff, and much of his senior White House team …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Vox, Axios, The Guardian, Politico, Business Insider, The Week, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

JGoldsmith / Lawfare:
President Trump Nominates Chris Wray for FBI Director

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Daily Wire and The Atlantic

New York Times:
Trump Picks Christopher Wray to Be F.B.I. Director

Al Jazeera English:

Turkish parliament approves troop deployment in Qatar — Turkish parliament approves legislation allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Qatar. — Turkey's parliament has approved a legislation allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Discussion: Walid Shoebat, Reuters and The Atlantic

Tom Finn / Reuters:
Qatar in talks with Turkey and Iran to provide food, water: official

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Jawa Report and Marginal REVOLUTION

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump invites Qatar's leader to White House to resolve crisis

Discussion: Salon, The Atlantic, Washington Post and Politico

Wichita Eagle:

Lawmakers override Brownback veto of tax increases, rolling back 2012 cuts — TOPEKA — Lawmakers rolled back Gov. Sam Brownback's signature tax policy over his objections Tuesday night, forcing into law tax increases to fix a budget shortfall and provide more money for schools.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Common Dreams and Booman Tribune

Hunter Woodall / Kansas City Star:
Legislature overrides Brownback's veto of bill that rolls back his 2012 tax cuts

Discussion: Shareblue and The Atlantic

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

For second straight day, no vote of confidence for Sessions — Like Sean Spicer on Tuesday, Sarah Sanders declined Wednesday to say President Trump has confidence in Jeff Sessions. It's stunning that for two consecutive days, the top White House press people can't say whether the President has confidence in his Attorney General.

Discussion: Political Wire

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Sessions allies angry about Spicer refusing to defend him

Discussion: Raw Story, ABC News and Daily Kos

Kara Swisher / Recode:

A top Uber executive, who obtained the medical records of a customer who was a rape victim, is fired — Sources say Eric Alexander carried around for a year confidential information about a woman who was assaulted during a ride in India in 2014. — A top Uber executive obtained medical records …

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, Engadget, Mashable, Gizmodo and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Can Commit All the High Crimes He Wants. Republicans Aren't Going to Impeach Him. — Since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, or even before, Democrats have been waiting for the moment when the Republican Party's indulgence would snap. In every incremental advance of the Russia story …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, AOL, IJR, The Resurgent, CNBC, Shareblue, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, East Bay Times, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, The Week and National Review

Richard Horgan / Adweek:

French Magazine Charlie Hebdo Crosses the Line With Gruesome Theresa May Cover — #JeSuisAbassourdi — Not cool. — The June 7 issue of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo arrives on the heels of the Manchester and London Bridge terrorist attacks.

Discussion: Geller Report

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Strong approval of Trump is fading across a number of demographics — FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver noticed something interesting in approval-rating polling for President Trump. While support for Trump has remained consistently high among Republicans and Trump's base of non-college-educated white voters …

Discussion: Shareblue, Political Wire, Business Insider and Raw Story

Daily Mail:

Female nursery worker is stabbed by three women in London — Karrien Stevens, who runs Little Diamonds Nursery in Hermon Hill, London said a member of staff was punched, kicked and slashed with a ‘Stanley knife’ by three girls while on her way to work this morning.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Geller Report and Blazing Cat Fur

BBC:

Mozambique police warn bald men after ritual attack — Bald men in Mozambique could be targets of ritual attacks, police have warned, after the recent killing of five men for their body parts. — Two suspects have been arrested in the central district of Milange, where the killings occurred.

Discussion: Washington Post

New York Times:

At Least 12 Killed in Pair of Terrorist Attacks in Iran — Assailants with rifles, explosives and women's disguises stunned Iran on Wednesday with audacious attacks on the Parliament building and tomb of its revolutionary founder, the worst terrorist strike to hit the Islamic republic in years.

Mrs. S. F. Kistler / The Federalist:

I Bake New Neighbors Bread To Welcome Them, And They Never Say Hello to Me Again — Let me tell you about my Southern California neighborhood. I have lived in this one for 22 years. I don't know anyone, but it's not for lack of trying. Each time a new neighbor moves in I bake a loaf of bread and take it to them.

Dave Boyer / Washington Times:

Trump nominates new slate of federal judges — President Trump announced a new round of 11 judicial nominations Wednesday, including three nominees for high-profile federal appeals courts. — One of the nominees, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison H. Eid, is being tapped by the president …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Above the Law, RedState, The Daily Caller and New York Times

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:

Michael Flynn Had a Plan to Work With Russia's Military. It Wasn't Exactly Legal. … Donald Trump's first national security adviser pushed so hard for the Pentagon to cooperate with the Russian military that his initiative would likely have broken the law if it had ever been enacted.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story and Shakesville

Us Weekly:

How Ivanka Trump Influences Her Father Donald Trump — She got it from her mama. At just 5 years old, Arabella Kushner already has mom Ivanka Trump's defining characteristic, the former Trump Organization VP revealed in a September interview with Harper's Bazaar: “She knows exactly what to say to get what she wants.”

Discussion: The Slot, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Mediaite