memeorandum: How to watch the James Comey testimony (Jasmine Lee/CNN)

6:50 AM ET, June 8, 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: New York Magazine, Daily Wire, NPR, Vox, The Federalist, Business Insider, Axios, Mashable, Mother Jones, The Week, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

Philip Allen Lacovara / Washington Post:

I helped prosecute Watergate. Comey's statement is sufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice case. — Philip Allen Lacovara, a former U.S. deputy solicitor general in the Justice Department, served as counsel to Watergate special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski.

Discussion: The Intercept, The Week, The Guardian, Lawfare, Vox, The Federalist, Just Security, CNBC, Townhall.com, Blazing Cat Fur, ACS Blog and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

RNC to Lead Trump's Offensive Against Comey — President Donald Trump is outsourcing much of the response to ex-FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Thursday to the Republican National Committee.

Discussion: The Week

David French / National Review:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: James Comey's Prepared Testimony, Explained — There's evidence Donald Trump abused his power, but it's not yet clear that he obstructed justice. — Earlier this afternoon the Senate Intelligence Committee released the text of former FBI director James …

Discussion: Lawfare

Dan McLaughlin / National Review:

Jim Comey Backs Up Trump's Story, But It's Not All Good News for Trump — You don't have to wait for tomorrow's blockbuster hearing: the Senate Intelligence Committee has posted on its website the opening statement by fired FBI Director Jim Comey, detailing five meetings and conversations …

Discussion: The Federalist, Hot Air, Power Line and Instapundit

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Comey's fizzle — James Comey has an expectations problem. — By any reasonable standard, his testimony about his service under President Donald Trump and his cashiering would be damaging perhaps to the point of debilitating. But his account has been billed as Watergate …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, New York Magazine and Political Wire

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

James Comey, Novelist — James Comey has a story to tell, and in his account, there is no doubt about who is the hero. Comey, by reputation, has a monumental ego. His prepared testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee, which you can read here, is consistent with that image.

Discussion: IJR, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and Washington Post

James B. Comey / CNN:

READ: James Comey's prepared testimony — Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — Chairman Burr, Ranking Member Warner, Members of the Committee. — Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. I was asked to testify today to describe for you my interactions with President-Elect …

Discussion: Mother Jones, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shareblue, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Vox, CBS Philly, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Boing Boing and Lawyers, Guns & Money

David Ferguson / Raw Story:
CNN legal analyst on Comey testimony: 'If that's not obstruction of justice, I don't know what is'

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

Tara Palmeri / Politico:
West Wing aides fearful of directly attacking Comey

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, Political Wire, ABC News and Axios

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

Discussion: IJR

New York Times:
Comey Says Trump Pressured Him to ‘Lift the Cloud’ of Inquiry

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Comey's testimony could turn congressional probes toward question of obstruction

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic, The Week, ThinkProgress, CNBC, Just Security, Gizmodo and Hit & Run

Allan Smith / Business Insider:
Comey told Trump 3 times that he wasn't under investigation, but his refusal to publicly say so infuriated Trump

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, AOL and NPR

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

Discussion: RedState

Jasmine Lee / CNN:
How to watch the James Comey testimony

Discussion: Common Dreams, NPR and Reuters

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

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:
The Latest: WH: Not sure if Trump's read Comey's statement

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

Yoni Appelbaum / The Atlantic:
Comey's Duty to Correct

Discussion: Slate

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

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Wire, Gizmodo, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and Washingtonian

Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:

Gianforte pays $50,000 to press group to settle assault of Guardian reporter — Congressman-elect issues lengthy apology to Ben Jacobs over ‘unprofessional, unacceptable, and unlawful’ actions … Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who assaulted a Guardian journalist on the eve …

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, NPR, KTLA, New York Magazine, Washington Post and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Gianforte to give $50,000 to press freedom group after assaulting reporter — Greg Gianforte, who was recently elected to fill a vacant Montana congressional seat, has agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists as and issued a formal apology as part of a civil settlement with Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.

Discussion: ABC News, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Axios

Tresa Baldas / Detroit Free Press:

Feds drop bombshell: Up to 100 girls may have had their genitals cut in Michigan — A federal prosecutor dropped a bombshell in court Wednesday, telling a federal judge that the government estimates that as many as 100 girls may have had their genitals cut at the hands of a local doctor and her cohorts.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

John Diedrich / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Jury awards $6.7M to inmate raped by guard in Milwaukee County Jail, shackled during childbirth — A federal jury Wednesday awarded $6.7 million to a woman who was raped repeatedly by a guard when she was being held in the Milwaukee County Jail four years ago.

Annie Karni / Politico:

Melania Trump set to make her D.C. move next week — President Donald Trump's White House residence — where an increasingly isolated figure under siege conducts his late-night phone klatches and early morning tweetstorms — is about to get a little less lonely.

Discussion: New York Magazine and Political Wire

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, Politicus USA, Informed Comment, AOL, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, The Week and Political Wire

Carol Rosenberg / miamiherald:

Trump's pick for FBI director was alerted early to detainee abuse — President Donald Trump's choice for FBI director was notified months before the public knew about the death of a detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004, and was at the very least on the fringes of discussions …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Business Insider

New York Times:

‘Must-See TV’: Free Drinks and Canceled Meetings for Comey's Testimony — The schedule has been cleared and the popcorn readied at Evergreen Partners, a strategic communications firm in central New Jersey, where the rule for employees on Thursday morning is simple: No client talk while James B. Comey is speaking.

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, New York Times, Above the Law, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and RedState

Charlie Nash / Breitbart:

A fan of former Breitbart senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos is suing UC Berkeley for $23 million, claiming routine abuse against conservative students on campus. — The fan of Milo, whose book Dangerous reached #1 on Amazon's best sellers list within a day of being made available to pre-order this week …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Trump ‘all in’ on Senate Obamacare repeal — President Donald Trump is increasingly invested in Senate passage of a bill to repeal Obamacare, realizing that a successful vote in the upper chamber will provide a major boost to his domestic agenda, say Republicans who have spent time with him recently.