The Three Questions James Comey Must Answer

On Wednesday, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the prepared opening statement of former FBI director James Comey, kickstarting the most anticipated event in Washington since President Trump's inauguration.

Comey's statement confirms previous reports about his multiple one-on-one meetings with Trump—that the president asked Comey to "let go" of the FBI's investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn; that Trump asked Comey for his "loyalty"; that in return Comey promised only his "honesty." It also confirms that Comey had stated three times that Trump himself was not under investigation by the FBI. In an interview on May 11, two days after firing Comey, Trump told NBC News' Lester Holt that Comey had told him he was not "personally" under investigation, though Trump was clear that he was "not talking about campaigns" or anything else.

What substantive news do we learn from Comey's statement? Not much, except for this interesting detail: On January 27, President Trump invited Comey to dinner at the White House that evening, the same day that acting attorney general Sally Yates first warned White House counsel Don McGahn that Mike Flynn could be compromised by his dealings with Russia.

Otherwise, Comey's detailed account of four one-on-one meetings he had with Trump (starting with a January 6 briefing when Trump was president-elect) are most useful in filling out Comey's own perspective and interpretation of those interactions. Comey describes the president as having a fixation on publicly announcing that Trump was not under investigation, of which Comey says he assured Trump of three times. Trump repeatedly told Comey that he felt his presidency was operating under "the cloud" of the broad Russia investigation and that it was "interfering with his ability to make deals for the country."

In a statement, Trump's outside counsel Marc Kasowitz said the president felt "completely and totally vindicated" by Comey's statement. "The president is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the president was not under investigation in any Russian probe," Kasowitz said in a prepared statement. "The president feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda."