Today is the start of we begin to find out if the Trump camp was involved in the Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential elections. It starts with the Comey testimony.
WASHINGTON – The star of today’s version of “Survivor Washington,” former FBI Director James Comey who will be testifying before the Senate intelligence committee. It is act one of what is likely a very long play.
Bars in Washington have opened early in this morning and one is giving away free drinks every time President Donald Trump tweets during the Comey testimony.
So, what can we expect from his questioning by the Senate intelligence committee?
Expect the Republican’s to hone in on Comey saying that President Trump was not being investigated. In Comey’s opening statement he states three times that he told the president that he was not (at least at this point) the subject of an FBI investigation.
Expect the Democrats to push Comey on the point that President Trump was using his position to “make the Russian investigation go away,” and more to the point drop the probe into Gen. Michael Flynn.
Watch Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) he is likely to talk about the Russia investigation. He is the most aggressive voice on the Republican members of the committee focused on the question the Russian hacking of the 2016 Presidential Elections.
Watch Sen. Angus King (D-ME) he is the most aggressive member of the Democrats on the committee. Sen. King will go after the potential “obstruction of justice,’ angle. His questioning will be centered on President Trump’s pushing to save Gen. Flynn from an FBI investigation.
The opening act – Today will not on its own, sink President Trump, there will not be a smoking gun that would trigger an impeachment movement. What we are seeing today is the first act of a long investigation into the people around President Trump who may or may not have been involved in the Russian hacking into the 2016 Presidential elections.
This melodrama will now move to former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III who was appointed special counsel to investigate any possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. He will now be the prime player in this investigation.
Politically, the Republicans will try to get back on course as they have less than two months to tackle health care, the budget and infrastructure. Because of so many different camps in the party at this time it Is unlikely to see any major legislation passed in 2017 and since 2018 is an election year, it is possible that no major legislation will get passed for two years.
Look for the Democrats take a page out of the GOP playbook by using the fact that no major legislation passing even though the Republicans are the majority party in the White House, the House along with the Senate. It helped the GOP, in 2010 take back the House and the Senate after the Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Get your popcorn the Comey testimony will be interesting. But again remember it is just act one of what will likely be at least a one year play.
