Comey Senate Testimony - Watching Live

[Lis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67-iTpIqZrU

If you don't have cable, or if you're at work or someplace without television, you can watch for free on youtube, on your browser or phone.

[jrhampt]

You can also stream it for free on NPR

[Kris]

Comey just used the word "lies" in his opening statement. This could get interesting.

[Kathryn K.]

Comey just used the word "lies" in his opening statement. This could get interesting.

Yep, that got my attention too.

[MrDelane]

My favorite quote so far.... "Lordy I hope there are tapes."

[Kris]

My favorite quote so far.... "Lordy I hope there are tapes."

Mine, too. Loved that.

[davisgang90]

I liked this.  Comey says Lynch tarmac meeting, directive to downplay probe prompted him to go rogue on Clinton case

[MrDelane]

Well, not much gray area here:

"The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts.
It was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that. It is a high confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community
and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. It's not a close call. That happened. That's about as unfake as you can possibly get."

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent. I couldn't keep track of his line of questioning and neither could Comey. Made me wonder about his mental faculties, but the more likely explanation is that he was simply struggling to come up with a plausible reason to insert "But Hillary!" into the conversation.

[sol]

So far, the white house is sticking with the classic "I am rubber, you are glue..." response to Comey's testimony. 

"The President is not a liar, you're a liar!" is maybe not the best legal defense they could have come up with. It will be interesting to see the official response from his lawyers shortly, though far less interesting than if they would just give Trump his twitter phone back again. 

Think back to how Trump responded to attacks from Rosie O'Donnel, or that Miss Universe lady he called Miss Housekeeping.  Look at how he has responded to all of the lawsuits he's lost.  The man doesn't understand humility, but maybe his lawyers can convince him to say something like "In this instance, I understand how my innocent intentions might have been misconstrued as an attempt to interfere with an official FBI investigation, and for that I am deeply sorry.  I will endeavor to communicate my true intentions to my staff more clearly and thoughtfully in the future" and then all of his problems would go away and he could go on playing President.  Instead, I'm betting he leads with "I never said that! James Comey is a dirty liar and a masturbator!  SAD!!!" or some variant thereof.

[Kris]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent. I couldn't keep track of his line of questioning and neither could Comey. Made me wonder about his mental faculties, but the more likely explanation is that he was simply struggling to come up with a plausible reason to insert "But Hillary!" into the conversation.

I agree, but I actually do suspect he has a touch of dementia. I was listening on the radio and taking a walk, and didn't happen to catch who was speaking until after McCain was done. McCain has a very recognizable voice -- one I've always been able to identify fairly quickly -- and I didn't recognize him, at all. My experience with people who have dementia is that it alters even their vocal register. I think there's more going on here than just him having considerable difficulty trying to make an argument that was basically impossible to make.

[Lis]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent. I couldn't keep track of his line of questioning and neither could Comey. Made me wonder about his mental faculties, but the more likely explanation is that he was simply struggling to come up with a plausible reason to insert "But Hillary!" into the conversation.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. I had a hard time trying to understand what he was asking and what point he was trying to make. With everyone, you could get the sense of how they wanted Comey to answer based on how they worded their questions. I'm also confused, because McCain has been pretty outspoken against Trump before, and I believe has supported the idea of a third party investigation. I could understand him, or someone, bringing up the emails yet again if they wanted to test Comey's character or integrity (I didn't listen to 100% of the testimony because I'm at work, but I'm pretty sure the Clinton investigation was brought up several times), but McCain's questioning definitely seemed to fall more in line with the "But Hillary!" crowd.

[Lis]

Think back to how Trump responded to attacks from Rosie O'Donnel, or that Miss Universe lady he called Miss Housekeeping.  Look at how he has responded to all of the lawsuits he's lost.  The man doesn't understand humility, but maybe his lawyers can convince him to say something like "In this instance, I understand how my innocent intentions might have been misconstrued as an attempt to interfere with an official FBI investigation, and for that I am deeply sorry.  I will endeavor to communicate my true intentions to my staff more clearly and thoughtfully in the future" and then all of his problems would go away and he could go on playing President.  Instead, I'm betting he leads with "I never said that! James Comey is a dirty liar and a masturbator!  SAD!!!" or some variant thereof.

This. There's so much speculation on whether Trump's words meant he was asking Comey to drop it, or whether it was a misunderstanding. Literally all he would have to say is "This was a misunderstanding, I'm sorry my words weren't clear." I don't think it'll sweep everything under the rug (mostly because of Trump's previous actions than the evidence so far), but I think people would be more forgiving of the situation.

Out of curiosity - has Trump denied asking Comey? I know White House officials have, and I know Trump has belittled Comey. But has Trump said "I did not as Comey to drop the investigation?"

[ysette9]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent

I actually did find him coherent. He very clearly was purposefully muddling two unrelated things in an attempt to make people who weren't paying close attention think that they were related, or there was some unfair treatment or coverup. Frankly, it disappointed me greatly. I had developed this sense of him being a somewhat independent figure with a strong moral compass. This played just like pandering to the bottom feeders.

**
In other news, this was a spectacularly unproductive morning at work on my front.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent

I actually did find him coherent. He very clearly was purposefully muddling two unrelated things in an attempt to make people who weren't paying close attention think that they were related, or there was some unfair treatment or coverup. Frankly, it disappointed me greatly. I had developed this sense of him being a somewhat independent figure with a strong moral compass. This played just like pandering to the bottom feeders.

**
In other news, this was a spectacularly unproductive morning at work on my front.

My first though was dementia, but then my second thought was along your line of reasoning: Was he going for a Fox News soundbite? Judging from the Twitter reaction, I don't think it worked. But of course the real question is whether the cable news/conservative radio will find some fresh chum to spread to their listeners. From what I can tell, more people seem to be concerned with his well-being than frothing at the mouth about any response that he brought forth.

[maizefolk]

My biggest take away from the parts of the hearing I saw was that something was very wrong with John McCain today (and maybe permanently, I haven't seen him talk in an awful long time). Afterwards saw photos online of everyone else on the committee (Ds and Rs) looking extremely uncomfortable while he spoke.

Which is not to minimize Comey's testimony, but I'd already read the opening statement that went online yesterday and it didn't seem like there was a lot of additional info in his answers to questions today -- but again I only saw bits and pieces.

[Inaya]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent

I actually did find him coherent. He very clearly was purposefully muddling two unrelated things in an attempt to make people who weren't paying close attention think that they were related, or there was some unfair treatment or coverup. Frankly, it disappointed me greatly. I had developed this sense of him being a somewhat independent figure with a strong moral compass. This played just like pandering to the bottom feeders.

**
In other news, this was a spectacularly unproductive morning at work on my front.

My first though was dementia, but then my second thought was along your line of reasoning: Was he going for a Fox News soundbite? Judging from the Twitter reaction, I don't think it worked. But of course the real question is whether the cable news/conservative radio will find some fresh chum to spread to their listeners. From what I can tell, more people seem to be concerned with his well-being than frothing at the mouth about any response that he brought forth.

I went the opposite way. I thought he was being strategic in linking the two issues--which surprised and disappointed me because of his recent approaches to Trump. But then he started babbling about President Comey. One time is a misspeak. But several?

Also interesting was the focus on, "But why didn't you tell Trump he shouldn't be asking you for loyalty?" It read as an almost-admission that they believe Comey, but they still needed to censure him for something. But seriously, nobody should have to instruct the president not to obstruct justice?

Finally, apparently the hearing was, according to his supporters, "a big win for Trump!" I don't even see how you can spin it that way.

[Kathryn K.]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent

I actually did find him coherent. He very clearly was purposefully muddling two unrelated things in an attempt to make people who weren't paying close attention think that they were related, or there was some unfair treatment or coverup. Frankly, it disappointed me greatly. I had developed this sense of him being a somewhat independent figure with a strong moral compass. This played just like pandering to the bottom feeders.

**
In other news, this was a spectacularly unproductive morning at work on my front.

My first though was dementia, but then my second thought was along your line of reasoning: Was he going for a Fox News soundbite? Judging from the Twitter reaction, I don't think it worked. But of course the real question is whether the cable news/conservative radio will find some fresh chum to spread to their listeners. From what I can tell, more people seem to be concerned with his well-being than frothing at the mouth about any response that he brought forth.

I went the opposite way. I thought he was being strategic in linking the two issues--which surprised and disappointed me because of his recent approaches to Trump. But then he started babbling about President Comey. One time is a misspeak. But several?

Also interesting was the focus on, "But why didn't you tell Trump he shouldn't be asking you for loyalty?" It read as an almost-admission that they believe Comey, but they still needed to censure him for something. But seriously, nobody should have to instruct the president not to obstruct justice?

Finally, apparently the hearing was, according to his supporters, "a big win for Trump!" I don't even see how you can spin it that way.

I was looking forward to hearing what John McCain had to say so was surprised to hear the gobbledy-gook he came out with.  Diminished mental faculties was my first thought but after reading the above also see how could it have been deliberate.  So I'm sad if it is dementia-related OR greatly disappointed, if now, despite being willing to speak out against Trump in the past, McCain has followed almost all the other Republicans in putting party loyalty above the good of the country.

[dividendman]

There should be age limits in all elected positions - 60 years old sounds good. This could be instead of term limits.

[Kathryn K.]

There should be age limits in all elected positions - 60 years old sounds good. This could be instead of term limits.

You'd lose most of the Senate in that case... There are many people that are mentally competent up to the end so I think it's a bit ageist to set a specific limit in this case, but it's also disappointing and not good for our system when people hang on long past they should. Although it's on the constituents why a pol is not voted out if they are no longer competent.

[dividendman]

There should be age limits in all elected positions - 60 years old sounds good. This could be instead of term limits.

You'd lose most of the Senate in that case... There are many people that are mentally competent up to the end so I think it's a bit ageist to set a specific limit in this case, but it's also disappointing and not good for our system when people hang on long past they should. Although it's on the constituents why a pol is not voted out if they are no longer competent.

I wouldn't mind losing most of the Senate. I think a lot of decisions are made and not future looking because the average age of the elected officials is much higher than the average age of the workforce.

Canadian senators must resign/retire at 75.

[Ocinfo]

I was concerned about McCain as well. One possible explanation is that he has a cold. There's been a real crappy cold going around DC in recent weeks. I'm getting over it and my mind was foggy for several days along with a sore throat (hard to talk). That being said, he's probably senile. In the video feed, it looked like he was confused himself and he started off by inserting "Comey" when he meant Trump.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BlueHouse]

Did anyone else catch McCain's questioning at the end? Dude was borderline incoherent. I couldn't keep track of his line of questioning and neither could Comey. Made me wonder about his mental faculties, but the more likely explanation is that he was simply struggling to come up with a plausible reason to insert "But Hillary!" into the conversation.

 I was listening on the radio and taking a walk, and didn't happen to catch who was speaking until after McCain was done. McCain has a very recognizable voice -- one I've always been able to identify fairly quickly -- and I didn't recognize him, at all. My experience with people who have dementia is that it alters even their vocal register. I think there's more going on here than just him having considerable difficulty trying to make an argument that was basically impossible to make.

I also didn't recognize his voice until the very end and I thought it was strange too. 

[cube.37]

There should be age limits in all elected positions - 60 years old sounds good. This could be instead of term limits.

You'd lose most of the Senate in that case... There are many people that are mentally competent up to the end so I think it's a bit ageist to set a specific limit in this case, but it's also disappointing and not good for our system when people hang on long past they should. Although it's on the constituents why a pol is not voted out if they are no longer competent.

I wouldn't mind losing most of the Senate. I think a lot of decisions are made and not future looking because the average age of the elected officials is much higher than the average age of the workforce.

Canadian senators must resign/retire at 75.

To put this into a corporate perspective, many boards have mandatory retirement ages for board members. The retirement age is often 72 or 75 years old. And this is for roles where most of the time, the biggest obligation is meeting 4-6 times a year, and they're just running billion dollar companies...compare that to a congressperson responsible for running a country.

From a spencerstuart report on the S&P 500 boards:
Among the 73% of boards that have established a mandatory retirement age for directors, half set the retirement age at 72, which has remained relatively consistent in the past five years.

[Kris]

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