Fired FBI director James Comey had been scheduled to testify this Wedneday on the circumstances surrounding his firing. Now that’s not going to happen: House Oversight chair Jason Chaffetz confirmed that the hearing is being postponed, because Comey “wants to speak with Special Counsel [Robert Mueller] prior to public testimony.” Comey likely wants to ensure that his testimony does not interfere with Mueller’s investigation into the same matters—for example, Mueller may want him to demur on answering certain questions.
In what could be coincidental but, in the Trump White House, could also be something else, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has also cancelled his planned testimony to the House and Senate this week. The hearings were routine efforts on Justice Department funding, but lawmakers were likely to have questions of their own on Sessions’ key role in the Comey firing. So for now, he won’t be showing up either.
DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said the canceled testimonies, which had been planned for Wednesday in the House and Thursday in the Senate, was due to a scheduling conflict. The Senate Appropriations Committee had announced Sessions’ appearance last week, although the testimony was not included in the weekly guidance from the Justice Department.
Comey’s move is certainly bad news for the administration, as it suggests Comey suspects his testimony on the White House’s actions may indeed pertain to Mueller’s own investigation of Russian election meddling and potential White House collusion. The Sessions news is less clear, but in an environment in which much of the White House staff is being encouraged to lawyer up he may have his own reasons for wanting to, at least for a few weeks, dodge lawmaker questions.