Though former FBI Director James Comey has declined to appear before the Senate Subcommittee this week to testify regarding Trump and his relationship with Russia, sources obtained by the New York Times claim that Comey is ready and willing to testify publicly.
Thanks to the hostile treatment from the White House, as well as some clear corruption that Comey is willing to share, we may soon be hearing the former FBI director’s side of the story.
Indications that Comey may be willing to cooperate with the Trump investigation came when he reportedly leaked information to the New York Times last week regarding a reported loyalty pledge that the POTUS attempted to force him to sign weeks ago.
Unfortunately, it is not up to Comey whether or not he will get that opportunity. That decision belongs to Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina. Burr is the chairman of a Select Committee on Intelligence which oversees matters of the intelligence community.
Burr was the one who invited Comey to testify initially, but if he is inclined to protect the president, allowing Comey to speak publicly and respond to questions like “did the president demand your written loyalty,” could be detrimental to the party as a whole.
Burr also highly regards Comey, calling him “one of the most ethical, upright, straight forward individuals I’ve had the opportunity to work with” in response to the FBI Director’s firing.
Fortunately, like Comey’s reported interest in speaking publicly, it appears that the corruption of the Trump administration may finally be enough to elicit some honesty from Republicans who see their role in the government as more than political grandstanding.
If Comey is given a platform to speak out, we will learn much more about what is happening behind the scenes and what lengths the Trump administration is willing to go to to keep their secrets buried.