Hyped sizzle may just fizzle
James Comey’s big day could be a big bust.
The fired FBI director’s testimony before Congress, overhyped to the hilt by ratings-starved news networks, looks like it will disappoint those looking for an obstruction of justice charge against President Trump.
And thanks to a decision by Comey’s PR team to release his testimony a day before this morning’s big event, we already know what he’ll say. That move guaranteed Comey an extra day of full-blown coverage, but it also took some of the drama out of his live appearance on Capitol Hill.
Comey’s testimony is damaging to Trump for sure, but that was a given. The big question is whether Trump directly asked Comey to end his investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 campaign and former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia.
Based on Comey’s advance testimony, that didn’t happen. Trump came close to the line of an illegal act but didn’t cross it.
Those on the left will view Comey’s testimony today as an indictment. Within minutes of his statement being released yesterday, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin excitedly proclaimed it was proof of obstruction of justice — “Period.”
And of course we know when someone says “period” — like President Obama on Obamacare — it’s usually wrong.
Those on the right, meanwhile, and Trump himself, will see Comey’s testimony as vindication and proof that the president did nothing wrong.
Neither view is true, but if Trump survives the day without any more surprises from Comey, it will be a win for the president.
Comey actually gave Trump some cover in his statement yesterday, confirming he told the president he wasn’t under investigation. And Comey now has to answer for why he never disclosed that important fact — like he did with the email investigation of Hillary Clinton.
Another question senators should be asking: Did Comey prepare his testimony with the help of the special prosecutor? That would be clearly inappropriate and damage Comey’s credibility.
But without any dramatic surprises, the day could be underwhelming — certainly not worthy of D.C. bars opening early to show the event.
Not to say there won’t be some entertainment out of the Comey testimony. The odds are that Trump will be live-tweeting the event and that at least one U.S. senator will start pounding his fist on the table, get red in the face and demand Comey say that Trump broke the law.
The sad truth is no one is covered in glory on the Comey affair — not the scandal-obsessed media, not Trump and definitely not grandstanding U.S. senators looking for a YouTube moment to raise money for their campaigns.
And while Washington remains fixated on Comey and the Russia investigation, terrorists are escalating their attacks against innocent people and North Korea fires more test missiles.