Washington, D.C. is gearing up for fired FBI Director James Comey’s hotly anticipated testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday in punny, boozy style.
Comey is expected to discuss how President Donald Trump pressured him to drop the bureau’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to CNN. He is also likely to face questions about whether Trump asked him for a loyalty oath or made any other attempts to interfere in the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
No matter what, several bars in Washington, D.C. (and no small number of Twitter users) are treating the hearing as a must-watch event and opening early so patrons can watch Comey’s testimony with drinks in hand.
Just invited to a #COMEY Testimony Watch party. How many of these are happening this Thursday?
— ruby (@rubyla) June 6, 2017
Has anyone in Dallas arranged a Comey hearing watch party yet?
— Meh. (@HeyItsHigbe) June 5, 2017
Shaw’s Tavern is scheduled to open early at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, half an hour before the hearing is scheduled to begin, and announced on Facebook that it will offer Russian vodka shots and an “FBI” sandwich and breakfast.
“Come on… you know you want to watch the drama unfold,” the bar posted. “The hearing starts at 10am on all 5 tv’s with sound.”
Rob Heim, the general manager of Shaw’s Tavern, told TPM he was “pretty surprised” by the amount of interest in a Comey watch party.
“This weekend I was visiting my mother in Florida and a promotion came on TV for the upcoming hearing and she said to me, who would watch that? And I said, well, actually in D.C. a lot of people would,” Heim said. “And right before I got on my flight back I put together the Facebook page quickly, or Facebook invite.”
He said the event has “kind of blown up since that.”
“For the debates and election night, we’ve always had a full crowd,” Heim said. “I was a little bit surprised just because of the time it is of day, and I feel like a lot of people have to work, but it seems like a lot of people have been calling and asking if we have WiFi. They’re planning on bringing their laptops and working from the bar.”
The Partisan bar announced on Tuesday that it will open Thursday at 10 a.m. ET with “TVs tuned into the hearing and sound on full blast.”
“Of course, libations will be involved,” the bar posted on Facebook. “We’re offering The Last Word and Drop The Bomb cocktails.”
Molly Hippolitus, communications director at the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, told TPM that both cocktails “are actually already on offer” at the Partisan.
“Obviously, the names lend themselves nicely to the concept of a Comey hearing watch party,” she said. “It was a natural fit given our name and concept.”
Duffy’s Irish Pub announced Monday that it will open early on Thursday and will offer the “Covfefe Cocktail,” named after an enigmatic tweet Trump posted last week, as well as “FREE WIFI in case you need to pretend you are working.”
“We developed the cocktail right after the tweet,” Tom Bindley, general manager at Duffy’s, told TPM. “We just thought we would have fun with it.”
Bindley said he has “no idea if anybody other than reporters are going to show up.”
“In the past, we’ve been a venue for, you know, political events and sports watching parties,” he said. “So we decided that, this being Washington, that would be kind of fun.”
Duffy's getting in on the Comey watch party action pic.twitter.com/HvDT35YMHR
— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) June 6, 2017
Some have more laid-back plans for the hearing, however.
Joke's on you, Shaw's Tavern! Most of DC will be drinking at their desks. https://t.co/F13FaFYmso
— Alan Zilberman (@alanzilberman) June 5, 2017
Is it Thursday yet?
This post has been updated.
