10:57 PM: Fascinating response from Comey about why he wasn’t more declarative in saying Trump’s Flynn request was wrong, inappropriate: “That’s a fair question. Maybe if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took it in and the only thing I could think to say, because I was playing in my mind to remember every word he said, I was playing in my mind, what should my response be. That’s why I very carefully chose the words. I’ve seen the tweet about tapes. I hope there are tapes. I remember saying I agree he is a good guy as a way of saying I’m not agreeing with what he asked me to do. Again, maybe other people would be strong in that circumstance. That’s how I conducted myself. I hope I never have another opportunity, maybe if I did it again I would do it better.” [This is rough transcript from our transcript services, may be minor omissions.]
10:51 PM: “I hope” … Sen. Risch is out on a pretty thin reed here. Sen. Risch seems to think this was just President Trump opening up to Comey about his hopes for the future.
10:42 AM: Notable here that Comey is saying what I think should be obvious, which is that Comey’s assurance that Trump was not under investigation was perhaps literally true that in practice a very thin reassurance. As he put it, “inevitably [Trump’s] behavior, his conduct” would be part of the investigation since it was an investigation into his campaign and he was the candidate. This is key. Obvious, I think. But key.
