Today saw the long-awaited public testimony of James Comey, former FBI director, before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Comey testified as to the circumstances surrounding his firing by Donald Trump shortly after Trump requested that he drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. What we learned from that testimony:
• Comey stated that he perceived Trump's request, "letting Flynn go", as an order from his president. Comey also blasted Sen. James Lankford's attempt to equate Trump's request with—of all things—Trump's twitter tirades against the investigation. "There’s a big difference in kicking superior officers out of the Oval Office, looking the FBI director in the eye, and saying ‘hope you’ll let this go.’"
• Asked why he felt the need to write detailed memos of his conversations with Trump, Comey said it was because of the subject matter, the circumstances, and "the nature of the person. I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting and so I thought it really important to document."
• Comey bluntly affirmed that Vice President Mike Pence was aware of questions surrounding Michael Flynn's Russia connections during the presidential transition. Pence previously claimed he had no knowledge of those ties; Mike Pence was in charge of vetting prospective administration members.
• Asked why he did not further brief Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Trump's requests to him, Comey strongly implied it was because Sessions himself was sufficiently enmeshed in the FBI's probe as to make such conversations themselves problematic. "... he was very close to and inevitably going to recuse himself for a variety of reasons. We also were aware of facts that I can't disclose in an opening setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic."
• Comey stated that he gave his memo about his conversation with Trump to the press, through an intermediary "friend", in the hopes it "might prompt the appointment of a special counsel."
• Asked about the now-infamous "Steele dossier", the output of an investigation into Trump's Russia ties by an British intelligence agent now in private practice that, among other claims, suggests Russian intelligence may have a tape of Trump in a hotel room with Russian prostitutes, Comey said he could not discuss the document because it "goes into the details of the investigation." The refusal to dismiss or discuss the document is a tacit acknowledgement that at least some elements of the document indeed intertwine with the FBI's own probe.
• Throughout his testimony Republican senators continued the party’s obsession with defending and dismissing Trump’s acts. Those looking for a Republican lawmaker to assert independence from Trump, even when faced with an FBI director directly accusing a sitting president of attempting to stifle a criminal investigation into his staff, will have to wait another day.
• Comey was animated in warning that Russia’s actions are an attack on the United States, stating that “they’re coming for America” and “they will be back.” Asked whether Trump himself showed “concern or interest or curiosity” about those actions in his conversations with Comey, Comey affirmed he did not.
• Asked directly whether he believes Trump himself colluded with Russia, Comey responded: "That's a question I don't think I should answer in an open setting.