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Everything We Learned From the Comey Hearing

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This post will be updated continuously throughout Comey's testimony today

The most anticipated day in recent political history - one that appeals not only to news junkies or political pundits, but basically anyone who loves televised drama - has finally arrived: former FBI Director James Comey has taken the stand before a Senate committee to testify about his meetings, interactions, and conversations with President Donald Trump. The Senate is seeking answers in hopes to further their investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and those of us watching from home (or, sneakily, at work) are looking to get answers to the many, many questions that have been on our minds since Comey was fired back in May.

For those not in DC – where bars opened early to host viewing parties across the city, and the conversations are almost exclusively about the testimony in hand – we're watching and taking notes on what it is exactly that we should be taking away from the hearing and what it is we need to know going forward for the future of the investigation and for the presidency writ large.

So, without further ado, Here's what we've learned today:

  • Russia definitely interfered in the election, but Comey doesn't think they touched the actual votes. At this point we all agree that there's no question that Russia did something last year, but Comey added today that he was "confident" Russia didn't alter any voting data once ballots were cast by the American people.
  • When Comey was fired, Trump wasn't under investigation. This is the point that the Trump team has been harping on, and quite honestly, the reason we've gotten to the point we're at today. When asked explicitly if Trump was under investigation at the time that he was fired on May 9, Comey answered simply: "No." We're probably all ready to move on from this now.
  • Comey documented his meetings with Trump because he was afraid that Trump would lie about what went down. Comey had nine meetings with Trump, a number that seems extraordinarily high when put against the fact that he only spoke with Obama twice over the span of three years. But the most damning information came in the form of his reasoning for why he began documenting these meetings, starting from the very first meeting in Trump Tower: "I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of the meeting and it led me to document it."
  • We finally found out what Trump whispered in Comey's ear back in January "I'm looking forward to working with you."
  • It's very likely that special prosecutor Robert Mueller is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice. When asked by Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr whether he was fired in order to hinder the Russia investigation – i.e., commit obstruction of justice – or to help protect Michael Flynn, Comey indicated that Flynn was already a known issue for the administration and that while he didn't think it was the express intent, it was likely something that would be investigated. "I don't think it is for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct," Comey said. "I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning, but that's a conclusion I'm sure the special counsel will work toward: to try and understand what the intention was there and whether that's an offense."
  • Comey was just as perplexed by his firing as we were. Initially it was said that he was fired because of his handling of the Clinton email scandal, but Trump cast doubt on this rationale when he suggested that it was to "relieve pressure" on the whole Russia debacle. "The explanations, the shifting explanations, confused me and increasingly concerned me," Comey said, before confirming that he now believes that Trump's rationale probably was the root cause. "I take the president at his word that I was fired because of the Russia investigation."
  • He doesn't know if there are tapes of the Trump/Comey conversations, but he'd be a happy man if they exist.

"Lordy, I hope there are tapes," Comey said with regards to the now-infamous tweet in which Trump appeared to threaten the former FBI director.



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