Trump’s credibility takes a hit in hearing

Investigations could tie up the White House for months or years

WASHINGTON — Reality is catching up with President Donald Trump.

Hours after Trump dismissed reports that his campaign associates were being scrutinized for colluding with Russia as “fake news,” FBI Director James Comey confirmed the investigation is real.

The FBI chief also repeatedly insisted there was no evidence to back up Trump’s explosive claim that his predecessor wiretapped his New York skyscraper.

And Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, knocked down a report about Britain helping President Barack Obama with the alleged surveillance, although the White House had pointed to the report to try to boost Trump’s case.

Taken together, the disclosures in Monday’s lengthy House Intelligence Committee hearing amounted to an extraordinary undercutting of a president, whose headlinegrabbing accusations and Twitter-friendly attacks crumbled quickly under the weight of sworn congressional testimony from some of the nation’s top security officials.

Many of Trump’s most ardent supporters are unlikely to be swayed by Monday’s spectacle. Still, Trump’s credibility and his standing as a reliable ally for his fellow Republicans in Congress is less assured. Even if his advisers are ultimately cleared in the Russia probe, as the White House insists they will be, the investigation could loom over Trump’s presidency for months or even years, distracting from the ambitious domestic agenda he’s vowed to enact.

That reality was abundantly clear Monday. Most cable news channels carried Comey and Rogers’ five hours of testimony live instead of the first congressional hearing for Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s widely praised nominee for the Supreme Court. The Russia hearings came as Trump tried to give a hard sell to Republicans wary of his health care package, a legislative gamble with long-lasting implications for Trump’s relationship with his own party.

The president’s approval rating has tumbled to 37 percent, according to a Gallup poll, down 8 points from a week earlier.