James Comey Senate testimony: America braces for a historic political moment (w/ Comey history)

[sharedvalues]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/04/james-comey-senate-testimony-donald-trump-russia-flynn

When James Comey, the former FBI director, stands before a Senate committee on Thursday to give evidence about the president who fired him, it will be one of the most dramatic moments in US political history.

The stakes will be as high as they have ever been at a congressional hearing. The questions Comey will be asked by the Senate intelligence committee include whether Donald Trump tried to persuade him to stop an investigation into improper contacts between a top adviser and Russian officials, whether Trump sought to extract a vow of personal loyalty, and whether Comey was fired because he did not comply.

...

(Discussion of blocking testimony
“I don’t think that Jim Comey is going to give a rat’s behind about what Kellyanne Conway has to say,” Painter said.

...

In reality, the ousted FBI director is a rare species in American politics, a public intellectual with a complicated personal history. He was born in Yonkers, New York, to an Irish Catholic and Democratic family, but turned his back on that inheritance and chose to study at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, a bastion of Southern conservatism.

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“I consider him to be a fascinating figure in terms of his background,” said Scott Horton, a human rights lawyer who has studied Comey’s background. “He is a person of the political right, who I think has remained in his heart a movement Republican but who saw the party floating away into something he didn’t recognise. But Niebuhr has always been the guiding light.”

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“If you think of moral man caught in an immoral society,” she said, “for someone who truly understands Niebuhr and the inherent conflicts between power and justice, this all has an aura of destiny to it.”

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I think the Niebuhr stuff is interesting history of the man.

[msongs]

1. I don't know. I can't say. I don't recall. Thank you very much Mr. Comey nt

[furtheradu]

2. I think Wed hearings will be an even bigger deal.

Will be tuned in, both days.

[murielm99]

3. I am concerned that it will be Fitzmas all over again.

Nothing.

If something happens to destroy 45, it may be a blindside. I remember Butterfield testifying about the taping system at the White House. It seemed anti-climactic. It sat there and everyone went, "oh" until they could figure out how shattering it was.

[Chipper Chat]

4. Trump will block him from testifying.

May stall things for awhile
.

[sharedvalues]

5. Discussed in article.