Mar 20, 2017

How to understand Comey at today's hearing

Shane Savitsky

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare has a simple rule for watching FBI Director James Comey's testimony to the House Intelligence Committee this morning: "Comey's communicativeness…will almost certainly be inversely proportional to the seriousness of the Russia investigation." He lays out three scenarios:

  1. The Trump/Russia connections are a bust, so there's nothing to lose. Expect a chatty Comey to go all-in on the details of the investigation. It could be firestorm for Trump in the short-term, but indicates there would be no long-term Russia issues for POTUS.
  2. The Russia investigation is still ongoing but not fruitful, so Comey would likely stick to a just-the-facts presentation — communicative on wiretapping, mum on Russia.
  3. Russia is major, so Comey needs to protect the investigation. If he attempts not to make news and leaves a lot of liberal pundits disappointed, this could actually be a worst-case scenario for Trump in the long run.

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Margaret Talev, Alexi McCammond

Sign of the times: A pro-Warren super PAC

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a rally in Nevada. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

A group of women progressives who back Sen. Elizabeth Warren has formed Persist PAC, a super PAC airing pro-Warren ads starting Wednesday in an effort to boost her performance ahead of Saturday's crucial Nevada caucuses, a spokesman told Axios.

Why it matters: Warren has spoken adamantly against the influence of unlimited spending and dark money in politics. But these supporters have concluded that before Warren can reform the system, she must win under the rules that exist — and that whether she likes it or not, their uncoordinated help may be needed to keep her viable through this weekend's contest and into South Carolina and Super Tuesday.

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Fadel Allassan

Pentagon policy chief resigns amid reported discord with Trump

John Rood. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

John Rood, the Pentagon's top policy official, will resign from his post at the end of the month, CNN first reported and President Trump confirmed.

The state of play: CNN said Rood "was perceived as not embracing some of the changes in policy the White House and senior Pentagon officials wanted," such as peace talks in Afghanistan with the Taliban and a decision to cut back on military exercises with South Korea as the president courted North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

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Axios

Coronavirus cases rise, as warnings of global pandemic grow

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

We may be "at the brink" of a global pandemic, warns a top U.S. public health official, as cases continue to spread despite containment efforts. Meanwhile, the global economy is being affected, including the tech manufacturing industry.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed more than 2,000 people and infected over 75,000 others, mostly in mainland China, where the National Health Commission announced 136 new deaths since Tuesday.

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