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(WASHINGTON DC) - It is essentially Washington's Super Bowl. The testimony of former FBI Director James Comey will be carried wall-to-wall by every major network including WTAM 1100, beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday. At issue is whether Comey felt pressured by President Donald Trump to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's ties to Russia, and election meddling. On Wednesday, a Senate committee grilled the nation's top intelligence officials on whether President Trump pushed them to exert pressure on Comey. Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Mark Warner, said if true, it would be an "appalling and improper use of intelligence professionals." "This issue is of such great importance, the stakes are so high, I hope you will also consider all of our obligation to the American people to make sure that they get the answers they deserve."
Democrats are expected to ask whether Trump fired Comey as a way to derail the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling on the 2016 election. If Comey says Trump did, we expect Republicans to ask why he didn't speak up immediately.
There are a number of key people to listen to:
1) The chairman of the committee, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.
2) The top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
3) Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. He's the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate and was considered a top candidate to replace Comey at the FBI.
4) Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. She has been a vocal part of the "resistance" to Trump's presidency.
The hearing is seen as being possibly the most important since the televised McCarthy-Army and Watergate hearings, and the networks are bringing in the big guns to cover it. NBC will begin coverage of the testimony on “TODAY," while ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos will lead that network's coverage. “CBS This Morning” hosts Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Norah O’Donnell will anchor live coverage on the network.
On cable news, Fox News' coverage will be co-anchored by Bill Hemmer and Shannon Bream. On CNN, anchors Wolf Blitzer and Andersoon Cooper will be heading up the network’s programming, while MSNBC's Brian Williams will host alongside NBC News’ Nicolle Wallace.