They began queuing up around 4 a.m.
By 9 a.m., the line hundreds of interns, congressional aides, and devoted members of the public snaked around the entire second floor of the Hart Senate Office Building, hoping desperately for a seat in hearing room for former FBI Director James Comey’s long-awaited testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
With many D.C. denizens planning to day-drink their way through the dramatic hearing, the hopeful attendees came prepared for the long line with books and snacks. Some wore neon athletic shoes with their suits to make standing for hours more bearable. Some slumped against the wall, already exhausted.
Inside the cold, high-ceilinged room, velvet ropes separated the seats for 125 reporters from all over the world from just under 100 seats for members of the public. Squeezing between the tightly packed rows, one press gallery staffer grumbled that she should have gone on a diet specifically for the hearing.
Dozens of photographers, each with a pile of cameras and lenses piled at their feet, furiously snapped photos of the empty chair Comey will soon fill. Behind that seat, another law enforcement official famously canned by Trump will sit and watch the hearing as a guest of Senate Democrats: former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.
