News Reporter: The Daily 202: What would it take for the Republican base to stop trusting Donald Trump?

What would it take for the Republican base to stop trusting Donald Trump?

James Comey swears to tell the truth before the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

BY JAMES HOHMANN

with Breanne Deppisch

With Joanie Greve

THE BIG IDEA: A Washington Post/ABC News poll in late April found that 81 percent of Republicans think President Trump is honest and trustworthy – compared to 38 percent of Americans overall and 34 percent of independents. In the spring of 2016, not long before he secured the GOP nomination, just 46 percent of self-identified Republicans said Trump is honest and trustworthy. Immediately after the convention in Cleveland, that popped to 69 percent and continued to rise after his November victory.

Besides becoming their party's standard bearer, what specifically has Trump done in the past 15 months to persuade one in three Republicans who thought he was dishonest that he can now be trusted?

The knee-jerk reaction to James Comey's very credible and very serious allegations yesterday, which the former FBI director made under oath and has contemporaneous notes to back up, is the strongest proof point yet of the rising tribalism that has infected our politics.

We saw a similar dynamic two weeks ago when many GOP apparatchiks rallied to the defense of Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte after he physically assaulted a reporter.

And it has not stopped at the water's edge. When Barack Obama was president, a Post-ABC poll found that only 22 percent of Republicans supported missile strikes against Syria in response to Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against civilians. After Trump did it, 86 percent of Republicans supported strikes for the exact same reason.

It's easy to forget amidst the donnybrook, but Comey has been a card-carrying Republican virtually all of his life. George W. Bush appointed him as a U.S. attorney and, later, deputy attorney general. He was a hero on the right when he rebuked Hillary Clinton as "extremely careless" last summer, but attitudes have shifted now that he's going after Trump. A Post-ABC poll conducted this week found that just 27 percent of Americans believe Trump fired Comey "for the good of the country." But 71 percent of Republicans did.

We'll know soon if the hearing moves the numbers, but don't hold your breath. Joe Heim interviewed a couple from Florida watching in the bar at Trump's D.C. hotel. "I'm sticking by his side to the end," said Scott Cowpland, 61. "If he wants loyalty, he's got our loyalty," added Ann Mytnik, 56.

James Comey's testimony, in 3 minutes

-- Trump this morning reacted to Comey's testimony by calling him a liar:

-- Sometimes it feels like the president's M.O. is: I know what you are, but what am I? When someone attacks him for something, he quite often lobs the same charge right back at who he perceives to be the accuser. Recall how Trump started talking about Bill Clinton's infidelity last October after he got caught on tape boasting about being able to get away with groping women because he's a celebrity. Then he appropriated the term "fake news" after the election.

-- Comey – fired one month ago today – repeatedly called the president a liar as he fielded questions for more than 2 ½ hours from senators on the Intelligence Committee.

On why he agreed to testify: "The administration … chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simple."
On why he took detailed notes: "I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document."
"Lordy, I hope there are tapes," Comey said in the most memorable sound bite of the day. "If there are tapes, it's not just my word against his … All I can do is hope. The president surely knows whether he taped me. … Release all the tapes!"

A historic day in Washington, in 3 minutes

-- Trump has long been adept at muddying the waters by employing the crisis management playbook that he learned from Joseph McCarthy's protégé Roy Cohn. The difference this time: He can count on the official Republican Party apparatus to do his bidding.

The Republican National Committee deployed a whopping 60 staff members as part of its rapid-response "war room" effort to counter-punch at Comey, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The RNC's output was punchy, snarky and at times contradictory," David Weigel reports. "It neatly captured the fog of confusion that the president's defenders wanted to churn."

Even Trump's former political opponents, including Marco Rubio and John McCain, acted sort of like his political defense team, Paul Kane writes.

Many other Republican lawmakers simply dismissed Comey's testimony as a nothing-burger. The best quote illustrating this comes from Politico's Burgess Everett: "I never did think it was going to amount to much, because first of all there's nothing there," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told reporters. "But people around here just love to make something out of nothing and that's basically what you have there. Tell me otherwise." Then Hatch added: "Of course, I haven't been in the hearing." Let that sink in: Hatch did not watch the hearing, yet he said it proved "there's nothing there."

Paul Ryan: Trump is 'just new to this'

-- Rather than directly challenge Comey's version of events, the Republican leadership team in Congress decided to defend what he described as the mere fumbling of an inexperienced politician. "The president's new at this," Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said at a press conference. "He's new to government, and so he probably wasn't steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between the DOJ, FBI and White House. He's just new to this." (Mike DeBonis rounds up several quotes like this.)

That defense just doesn't pass the smell test. Trump, 70, has been dealing with the federal government since the Justice Department came after him four decades ago for allegedly discriminating against African Americans at his rental properties. He's also earned a reputation as one of the most litigious people in the business world. (The Boston Globe's Matt Viser has more illustrations of why "Trump is no naif.")

-- Legal experts, meanwhile, said Comey's testimony clarified and bolstered the case that the president obstructed justice, Matt Zapotosky reports.

-- But sitting presidents do not get indicted on obstruction-of-justice charges. It is Congress that must ultimately determine if his behavior deserves impeachment.

Martha McSally is recognized by Donald Trump during a presentation ceremony of the Commander-in-Chief trophy to the Air Force Academy football team last month in the Rose Garden. (Susan Walsh/AP)

-- There is a chicken-egg dynamic at play. Most rank-and-file Republicans look to their party leaders for cues about what to believe, but these same lawmakers are waiting on the base of the party to turn on Trump before they find the "courage" to say publicly what many of them already believe privately.

-- This window-dressing is unlikely to change until members of Congress conclude that the cost of standing with Trump exceeds the risk of defending him. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) said during a private appearance last week that the president could cost her party the House. "Any Republican member of Congress, you are going down with the ship," McSally warned, according to the Tucson Weekly. "And we're going to hand the gavel to (Nancy) Pelosi in 2018. They only need 28 seats and the path to that gavel being handed over is through my seat. And right now, it doesn't matter that it's me, it doesn't matter what I've done. I have an 'R' next to my name and, right now, this environment would have me not prevail."

-- Erick Erickson warns his fellow Republicans that their blind loyalty to Trump is going to damage the party bigly in the long-term. "If your goal is to stop the left, all Trump is doing is both emboldening them and driving independent voters to them," he explains in a new piece for The Resurgent. "Soon he will be a catalyst for a leftwing resurgence if Republicans do not sort this out themselves."

-- The challenge for the politicians who would like to make a break is that Trump supporters who dwell in the alternative-reality fever swamps of the Internet were thrilled by the hearing, which they believe somehow offered total vindication of their president. This, for example, was posted unironically by a leading purveyor of pro-Trump conspiracy theories:

Trump's lawyer denies Trump asked Comey to drop the Flynn probe

WHY THE CREDIBILITY GAP MATTERS:

-- Trump's personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, released a statement after Comey's testimony saying that the president "never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone." He also denied that Trump ever asked Comey for "loyalty" in "form or substance." But Kasowitz refused to answer any questions.

-- "I can definitely say the president is not a liar," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders added during her afternoon briefing.

This quote is certain to become infamous. "Such protestations from any White House are never a good thing," Todd Purdum writes for Politico Magazine. "See Richard Nixon's, 'I am not a crook,' and Bill Clinton's, 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,' just for starters."

Analysts are ridiculing Sanders's declaration. From GOP messaging guru Frank Luntz:

A Florida Republican strategist:

The director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics:

-- The problem for the president is that he shortsightedly chose to squander his credibility on both mountains and molehills, from falsely accusing Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower to inflating the size of his inauguration crowd. And now it's lost.

-- The Post's nonpartisan Fact Checkers have documented 623 false and misleading claims made by Trump during his first 137 days in office. (See them all here.) The team has just produced a video juxtaposing Comey and Trump's conflicting public statements about their interactions. Watch it here:

James B. Comey v. President Trump, a case of he-said, he-said

-- In the eyes of every serious journalist covering the White House, Trump and his team lost the presumption of truthfulness long ago. There has been a near-weekly cycle of Trump shifting his story and contradicting his own staff:

When he fired Comey, of course, the White House announced that it was because of the director's mishandling of the Hillary email investigation and based entirely on a memo that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had written. "It was all him," Sean Spicer said. Then Trump went on TV to say, actually, the Russia investigation was on his mind when he fired Comey and volunteered that he was going to fire Comey before asking Rosenstein to draft a justification.
When The Post reported that the president divulged highly classified material to the Russians, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster categorically denied it: "I was in the room. It didn't happen." The very next morning, Trump admitted the story was true and said he had "the absolute right" to share whatever he wants.

-- Before he became president, Trump himself even boasted about playing fast and loose with the truth. "The final key to the way I promote is bravado," he explained in "The Art of the Deal." "I play to people's fantasies. … A little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole."

HOW THE COMEY NEWS IS PLAYING:

This is the cover of one of Trump's hometown newspapers:

This is the cover of next week's New Yorker:

"Charlie Chaplin and Donald Trump both get caught in the grinding gears of modern times," says artist Barry Blitt. "But with Trump it's not so funny."

-- "For his performance of a lifetime, [Comey] decided to play two roles at once: The prototypical G-man, always on the straight and narrow, dedicated only to truth and justice, and the aggrieved victim of an undisciplined, line-crossing president," our Marc Fisher observes in a thoughtful review. "In both roles, the play ends with Comey … in a new and uncomfortable place — as the whistleblower, warning the nation about a president who schemes, lies and seeks to corrupt public servants under the guise of loyalty...

"Comey was a little bit Jimmy Stewart, sprinkling his answers with aw-shucks modesty," Marc adds. "And he was a little bit John Dean, not quite declaring a cancer on the presidency but pronouncing himself very much 'shocked and troubled' by what he perceived as Trump's repeated efforts to get him to ease off the FBI's investigation … As in the legendary 'Saturday Night Live' bit about the miracle product Shimmer, which turns out to be both a floor wax and a dessert topping, Comey decided to play both roles."

-- "It has been many years since a witness appeared on Capitol Hill and put a president in such potential jeopardy," writes Dan Balz, The Post's chief correspondent, in a smart take. "The investigation is far from its conclusion and, as with so much about the probe, the evidence is murky or disputable. But for the president and his White House … this was not a good day."

On the front page of the New York Times, Peter Baker calls it "the most damning j'accuse moment by a senior law enforcement official against a president in a generation."

"Comey emerged as a superb institutionalist, a man who believes we are a nation of laws," adds columnist David Brooks. "Trump emerged as a tribalist and a clannist, who simply cannot understand the way modern government works."

Mark Warner confers with Richard Burr during a Wednesday Intelligence hearing. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

-- "This is nowhere near the end of the investigation," Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said after the hearing.

-- "The most important takeaway from Comey's testimony may be what he didn't say," Eugene Robinson writes in his column. "Topics he scrupulously avoided may give a hint of where the investigation is headed. He declined, for example, to answer a question in open session about Vnesheconombank (VEB), a Russian government-owned development bank linked to President Vladimir Putin. Trump's adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met last year with VEB executives."

-- The Senate Intelligence Committee expects Jared Kushner to meet with committee staffers this month, two sources familiar with the planning told NBC News last night. A third source familiar with the conversations added that discussions about timing are still ongoing.

-- Members of both parties want to see copies of Comey's contemporaneous memos.

-- Whether there are tapes has become more significant than ever. "I have no idea," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during the White House briefing when asked if there are tapes. Asked to look into it, she was flip: "Sure, I'll try to look under the couches."

-- If it turns out there were tapes, and Trump destroyed them, that could constitute a smoking gun of obstruction. It would also represent a tacit confession that Comey's testimony is accurate.

Jeff Sessions makes his way off stage after addressing the National Law Enforcement Conference on Human Exploitation in Atlanta this week. (Chris Aluka Berry/Reuters)

JEFF SESSIONS MAY BE IN REAL TROUBLE:

-- Yesterday's hearing raised a host of new questions about the sitting attorney general's truthfulness, judgement and contacts with the Russians.

This was very cryptic: "Comey said that the bureau had information about Sessions — before he recused himself from overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — that would have made it 'problematic' for him to be involved in the probe," Sari Horwitz reports. "Comey would not provide details of what information the FBI had."

Based on Russian-to-Russian intercepts, Comey told members of the Intelligence committee during a classified afternoon session that Sessions may have had a third unreported interaction with Sergey Kislyak, per CNN. (The AG's spokeswoman denies such an encounter, but remember that they were not forthcoming about the first two meetings...)

Comey said during the open portion of the hearing that it is "a reasonable question" as to why Sessions, who has recused himself from the Russia investigation, was involved in his firing when Trump admits publicly that he acted because of the Russia investigation.

The fired director also said he believes Sessions knew better than to leave him alone with Trump in the Oval Office on Feb. 14. "My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving, which is why he was lingering," Comey said.

It was during the subsequent conversation that the president allegedly said this:

"I took it as a direction," Comey explained yesterday. "I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone, saying, 'I hope' this. I took it as, this is what he wants me to do." If there was nothing improper about it, Comey wondered, "Why did he kick everyone out of the Oval Office?"

After that meeting, Comey said he told Sessions that he did not want to be alone anymore with Trump and "it can't happen that you get kicked out of the room and the president talks to me." Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) asked Comey how the attorney general responded. "I have a recollection of him just kind of looking at me," he replied. "I kind of got — his body language gave me the sense like, 'What am I going to do?' . . . He didn't say anything." Ian Prior, the Justice Department spokesman, disputed that account and said that Comey told Sessions that he "wanted to ensure that he and his FBI staff were following proper communications protocol with the White House."

-- Sessions will appear next Tuesday before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to discuss his department's budget request – and will be pressed by Democrats to clear things up under oath. But the real test will be when he next appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of his agency.

-- To be sure, Loretta Lynch also came off very badly yesterday. But she's no longer the nation's chief law enforcement officer. "At one point, the attorney general had directed me not to call it an investigation, but instead to call it a matter, which confused me and concerned me," Comey said, adding that this wording "gave the impression that (she) was looking to align the way we talked about our work with the way the campaign" was messaging about it. "That was inaccurate," he added. "That gave me a queasy feeling."

Sally Yates is sworn in prior to testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on May 8. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

IS THERE ANY CHANCE THIS IS ACTUALLY A COINCIDENCE?

-- Comey's timeline is problematic for Trump in many ways that we plan to unpack in coming editions of the 202, but here's an important angle that has not attention yet:

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates disclosed under oath last month that, on the morning of Jan. 26th, she unambiguously warned White House Counsel Donald McGahn that the national security adviser was "compromised by the Russians" and "could be blackmailed." Worried about the danger from within, Yates said she moved with great "urgency." In a secure room, she revealed that Vice President Pence and other White House officials were making false statements to the public. She said she does not know what McGahn did with that information, and McGahn has declined to answer.

Yesterday, Comey testified that Trump called him up at his desk around lunchtime on that very same day and asked him to come over for a one-on-one dinner a few hours later. Comey recalled that he needed to break a date with his wife in order to swing it. Trump then began the meal by asking if he wanted to remain as FBI director, which Comey found odd because the president "had already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to." "The dinner was, at least in part, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship," Comey said, explaining why this was concerning.

Flynn stayed on for 18 more days.

-- Comey said he has "no doubt" Russian government officials were directly behind the hacking of the DNC and others – something Trump remains reluctant to take seriously or, frankly, even acknowledge. "There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever," the fired director said. "The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. And it was an active-measures campaign driven from the top of that government." "It's my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation," Comey added.

-- Now the question is: Will Republicans ever believe him?

Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost's morning newsletter.
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Theresa May (Alastair Grant/AP)

-- British Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble on a snap election to improve her footing on Brexit negotiations ended in disaster, with Conservatives losing seats in Parliament. Griff Witte, Karla Adam and William Booth report: "The outcome — an astonishing turn following a campaign that began with predictions that May would win in a historic landslide — immediately raised questions even among her fellow Tories about whether she could maintain her hold on 10 Downing Street. It also threw into disarray the country's plans for leaving the European Union, threatening to render Britain rudderless just days before talks were to begin with European leaders over the terms of the nation's exit."

May will attempt to remain in office, she said this morning.

But the election's final results project that Conservatives would have 319 seats in Parliament, seven short of a working majority. Meanwhile, the Labour Party, portrayed as a hapless mess when the election was called, picked up dozens of seats. (The lack of a clear Parliament majority could create new coalitions across parties, Rick Noack reports.)

The surprising results echoed last year's Brexit vote: "The results mark the second time in as many years that the British body politic has defied predictions, scrambled the country's direction and bucked the will of a prime minister who had gambled by calling a vote when none had been required."

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for May's resignation: "The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate … Well, the mandate she's got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that is enough for her to go, actually."

-- May, who called for "stability" in an uneven voice early Friday, suffered during the campaign for a perceived lack of ability to connect with voters. Adam Taylor reports: "Having spent six years in the senior position of home secretary, May knew the government well … But when it came to finding the human touch on the campaign trail, May was at a loss."

Jeremy Corbyn celebrates in London. (Frank Augstein/AP)

-- The results represent a stunning revival for Corbyn, whose political demise had been widely predicted among election observers. Isaac Stanley-Becker reports: "Because Labour was preparing for a crushing defeat, the outcome suggested by early returns will be cast by Corbyn's supporters as a clear victory for the embattled leader and the leftist ideas he champions. The election result may paradoxically be seen as Labour's death knell by those who want a new direction for a party that has not won a general election in 12 years."

-- The leader of the UK Independence Party, which rose to power on Brexit fervor and lost its sole seat in Parliament, worried that the results would jeopardize the E.U. departure. Isaac Stanley-Becker reports: "The uncertainty of the early predictions throws the conditions surrounding the departure into doubt. Brexit negotiations were expected to begin in about 10 days. Britain has already triggered Article 50, the formal notice of withdrawal, and opinions differ on whether that is reversible."

UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Paul Nuttall campaigns in Clacton-on-Sea. (Chris Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images)

-- Even though Conservatives remain the most represented party in Parliament, the body's shifting make-up could have a significant effect on Brexit. Bloomberg's Therese Raphael writes: "It may seem that Thursday's election changes little: A Conservative prime minister will still occupy 10 Downing Street and Brexit still means Brexit. But in Britain's winner-take-all system, a narrow majority can change the landscape significantly."

-- The unexpected result will likely delay a meeting with the EU's chief negotiator that was meant to determine the terms of Brexit, the Guardian's Daniel Boffey and Jon Henley report.

-- Last night's results are also notable for the record number of women elected to office. Jennifer Hassan reports: "With over 200 women elected, the record number of female lawmakers shattered the previous high of 196 women elected in 2015."

-- As Brits wondered what the results would mean for the future of the U.K. – and of Europe – a Dutch member of the European Parliament offered this sober assessment:

GET SMART FAST:

Trey Gowdy during a hearing last month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The House Steering Committee voted to name Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) as the next House Oversight chairman. Gowdy, who led the two-year Benghazi investigation, will replace Jason Chaffetz, who resigned. (Mike DeBonis)
A 2005 deposition from Bill Cosby was read at his sexual assault trial. In it, the comedian describes sexual contact with his accuser and boasts that he is a "pretty good reader of people and their emotions in these romantic and sexual things." (Manuel Roig-Franzia)
Alleged NSA leaker Reality Winner was denied bail after pleading not guilty in Georgia. Winner, who has been accused of leaking a top-secret document to The Intercept, was charged with a felony under the Espionage and Censorship Act. (Katie Mettier)
Breitbart has lost 90 percent of its advertisers in the past two months. Over 2,000 companies have requested that their advertisements be pulled from the alt-right site. (Abha Bhattarai)
A new report finds that the odds of Zika-related birth defects decrease with each trimester. Women with Zika infections in the first trimester were three times as likely to have babies with birth defects than women who contracted infections during the third trimester. (Lena H. Sun)
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Nashville Predators 6-0. They're now just one win away from the Stanley Cup. (Isabelle Khurshudyan)
Saudi soccer players were criticized for continuing to warm up during a moment of silence for terror victims. Their Australian competitors were remembering the two Aussies killed in the London terror attack. (Matt Bonesteel)
Two Gulf nations made it a crime to show any sympathy for Qatar. The decisions from Bahrain and United Arab Emirates come as five Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. (Karen DeYoung)
The second-largest school system in the country just elected a pro-charter majority to the school board. Los Angeles Unified may now authorize more charter schools in the wake of the election. (Rob Kuznia)
Alabama executed an inmate convicted of a 1994 armed robbery. Robert Melson had been found guilty of killing three people in the midst of robbing a Popeye's restaurant. (Susan Hogan)
A Maine high school became the first to offer sport hijabs to student athletes. They are specifically designed to remain in place during rigorous activity. (Marissa Payne)
A bear in Vail, Colo., snuck into a home and briefly played the piano. Police who reviewed footage of the break-in declared the tune to be "unbearable." (Karin Bruillard)

Here's what you need to know about the Financial Choice Act

THE AGENDA:

-- The House voted to significantly roll back banking regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. Renae Marie reports: "Big banks, from Goldman Sachs to Bank of America, would face less scrutiny and other large financial institutions, such as insurance giant MetLife, could escape tougher rules all together under the legislation approved along party lines. The Trump administration backed the bill as part of a multi-pronged effort to ease banking regulations in order to spur economic growth. The legislation is likely to face stiff resistance in the Senate but it provides a roadmap of sorts for the policies the president plans to put in place as he appoints new regulators."

-- Trump plans to name Wall Street insider Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, as ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He was supposed to have a White House job but got marginalized in the opening weeks of the presidency. (Bloomberg)

-- The Hill, "GOP lawmaker talked stocks with colleagues," by Scott Wong: "Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) has boasted about how much money he's made for other members of Congress by tipping them off to an Australia-based pharmaceutical company in which he is the largest stockholder, two GOP lawmakers told The Hill. Collins, President Trump's chief defender and unofficial spokesman on Capitol Hill, told a group of House GOP colleagues over dinner earlier this year that he had urged colleagues to invest in Innate Immunotherapeutics and made them plenty of money in the process."

-- "Senate Republicans consider keeping parts of Obamacare they once promised to kill," by Sean Sullivan and Kelsey Snell: "GOP leadership told rank-and-file Republican senators during private talks this week that they favor keeping guaranteed protections for people with preexisting medical conditions — a departure from the House approach of allowing states to opt out of a regulation ensuring such individuals are not charged more for coverage. Senate Republicans have also been mulling options to more slowly roll back the expansion of Medicaid that most states accepted under Obamacare, and they are also openly talking about keeping many of the taxes the law imposed."

-- Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao testified that the White House, not her, will decide whether or not her department responds to routine inquiries from congressional Democrats. Ashley Halsey III reports: "Her comment came as she was questioned at a House hearing more than a month after the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel ruled that individual members of Congress 'do not have the authority to conduct oversight in the absence of a specific delegation by a full house, committee or subcommittee.' Fearful that Democrats might use information from federal agencies against the president, White House lawyer Uttam Dhillon advised agencies not to cooperate with Democrats."

Ask yourself: How would Mitch McConnell, Chao's husband, have responded if Obama had ordered all executive agencies to ignore any of his requests for even the most basic information? It's not far-fetched that he would have brought the Senate to a standstill over it.

-- Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan joined the cacophony of voices calling on Congress to reject the draconian budget cuts that Trump has proposed for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. Josh Hicks reports: "Dozens of activists rallied to press [Hogan] to take a stronger stance against the Trump administration's environmental policies. The demonstrators gathered near the State House as Hogan accepted the chairmanship of a regional council that guides efforts to improve the bay. They urged the governor to join an alliance of city and state leaders who have pledged to uphold the goals of the Paris climate agreement after Trump's decision to withdraw from the compact."

-- Former Fulbright Scholars are traveling to Washington to argue against Trump's proposed budget cuts to their program. Carol Morello reports: "The program's funding is facing what its alumni association calls an existential threat from a 47 percent cut proposed by the Trump administration, one of many sharp reductions in the State Department budget. And over 100,000 former Fulbright scholars, among them several members of Congress, are being asked to lobby for not only full funding but also a small increase."

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff greets volunteers in Atlanta. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

OFF TO THE RACES:

-- Democrat Jon Ossoff debated his Republican opponent, Karen Handel, for the second time yesterday in the Georgia special election. Politico's Elena Schneider reports: "With the debate beginning just an hour before Comey appeared on Capitol Hill ... Both candidates deflected and said the investigations should continue. Asked whether Trump obstructed justice, Handel said that based on Comey's released testimony, 'I don't think we can know one way or the other.'"

-- Ossoff raised $15 million in the past two months, bringing his overall fundraising total to $23 million. Spending in the race has now topped $40 million, making it by far the most expensive House race in history.

-- A new poll from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has Ossoff up 7 points over Handel among likely voters.

-- Mike Pence is flying to Atlanta this afternoon to campaign for Handel.

Tom Perriello, left, shakes hands with Ralph Northam at a debate. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

THE COMMONWEALTH:

-- The hotly-contested Democratic primary in Virginia's governor race is Tuesday, and the two candidates are courting black voters in the final stretch. Gregory S. Schneider and Fenit Nirappil report: "Days away from the primary, no voters are more coveted by Northam and his Democratic opponent, former congressman Tom Perriello, than African Americans. Northam, the establishment favorite, is banking on help from pastors, black community leaders in his native Hampton Roads and every African American state lawmaker to turn out voters. Perriello, the insurgent, has tapped into the national energy of the Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) movement to attract young black voters who typically don't come out for primaries."

-- The Republican side of Virginia's lieutenant governor election is turning on LGBT issues. Laura Vozzella reports: "Virginia state Sen. Bryce Reeves blasted one of his Republican rivals in the primary race for lieutenant governor for supporting the appointment of the state's first openly gay judge. Now, other Republicans are accusing Reeves of gay bashing, prompting an intraparty dispute around gay issues."

The sun sets on Cleveland, Ohio. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

THE OPIOID CRISIS IS GETTING WORSE:

-- The FDA took the uncommon step of asking a pharmaceutical company to remove their opioid painkiller from the market due to the potential for abuse. Laurie McGinley and Lenny Bernstein report: "The agency concluded after an extensive review of Endo Pharmaceuticals' Opana ER that the 'benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks.' The company reformulated the drug in 2012 to make it more difficult to snort, but the FDA said that move actually led to more injections — and a major HIV outbreak."

-- The city of Cleveland has seen a dangerous uptick in overdoses among African Americans. Authorities believe the deadly rise emanates from fentanyl being mixed with cocaine, Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs reports.

-- Drugs and alcohol killed more Marylanders in 2016 than ever before, Arelis R. Hernández reports.

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Kevin Uhrmacher, Kevin Schaul and Samuel Granados tracked what the three cable networks plastered across the lower-third captions on their screens during key exchanges. It was a rare opportunity to compare how different news channels cover the same event. They all aired it live, but not every network covered it in the same way. Explore the entire archive of captions during the nearly three-hour hearing here. And check out this Venn Diagram:

The tweet that launched a thousand controversies:

A Democratic senator from Hawaii responded to Trump's tweet this morning saying that Comey lied:

The president didn't live tweet Comey's testimony, but son Don Jr. did. He used the same Republican defense that Comey was not directly ordered by Trump to stand down from the Flynn probe because Trump used the word "hope" in asking Comey to "let it go:"

Don Jr. also mocked Comey's statement that he should have been "stronger" and challenged the president on the spot if he felt something was wrong:

From the Bravo TV host:

And the circus was definitely on in Washington. Some snaps of the scene on Capitol Hill and from watch parties at the bars:

Thirty years ago this week, Washington was enveloped by another scandal:

There was live coverage of Comey being driven to the Capitol from Virginia:

The biggest meme of the day, on social media, was John McCain's puzzling round of questions for Comey. Click this image to see it:

McCain suggests Clinton should be part of Russia investigation

There was lots of incredulity about those defending Trump and their arguments. From the New York Post op-ed writer:

There was also a counter-narrative about the interesting revelation that Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked Comey to refer to the Hillary Clinton email investigation as a "matter":

Across the pond:

Happy news of the day:

Hmmmm:

Kamala Harris questions Dan Coats on Wednesday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

HOT ON THE LEFT:

"Trump hearings launch Kamala Harris," from Politico: "The first-term California senator often described as risk-averse and overly cautious appears to be eagerly shedding that profile and embracing a role as one of the Senate's fiercest critics of the Trump administration. It's enough to spark widespread speculation about her prospects for 2020."

HOT ON THE RIGHT:

"Kris Kobach launches campaign for Kansas governor," from The Kansas City Star: "The architect of controversial election and immigration laws advised Trump on immigration policy throughout the 2016 election. He emphasized his connections to the president and promised to center his campaign on fighting 'corruption, taxation and illegal immigration.'"

DAYBOOK:

President Trump will go to the Department of Transportation for a "Roads, Rails, and Regulatory Relief Roundtable." He will also meet with the president of Romania before flying to his Bedminster, N.J., home for the weekend.

The vice president will travel to Marietta, Ga., to visit service members at Dobbins Air Reserve Base and campaign for Karen Handel in the special election.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) asked Comey questions about what he assumed when Trump said to "hold back" on Flynn: "You said [Trump] said, 'I hope you will hold back on that.' But when a president of the United States in the Oval Office says something like 'I hope' or 'I suggest' or 'would you,' do you take that as a directive?" Comey replied: "Yes. Yes, it rings in my ear as kind of, 'Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?'" King said: "I was just going to quote that in 1170 [of] Dec. 29 Henry II said, 'Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?' And then the next day he was killed. Thomas A Becket. That's exactly the same situation. We're thinking along the same lines." The reference between Comey and King goes back to an outburst from King Henry II about the Archbishop of Canterbury. The story passed down through history is that Henry II, who was frustrated by Becket, cried out, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Becket was then murdered by four knights, Sarah Pulliam Bailey explains.

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- District residents will enjoy a sunny day in the 80's today before a heat wave this weekend, the Capital Weather Gang reports: "Skies may start the morning partly cloudy, but we should turn mostly sunny by midmorning and beyond with blue skies dominating. Temperatures readily rise to seasonably warm levels, with highs around 80 to the low 80s, maybe a few mid-80s south of town."

-- The Nationals beat the Orioles 6-1 in a make-up game.

-- Three people, including two police officers, were struck by a car in Adams Morgan last night. Two of the victims remain in serious condition, Clarence Williams and Paul Schwartzman report. Cops are investigating what happened still.

-- Virginia's attorney general announced that over 1,200 rape kits would be tested in an effort to reduce the state's backlog, Antonio Olivo reports.

-- The popular Founding Farmers restaurant group was sued for wage theft. Tim Carman reports: "The overtime allegation is one of several outlined in a lawsuit filed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The employees, who are or were bartenders and servers at Maryland or D.C. locations, also allege the company and its owners, Daniel Simons and Michael Vucurevich, violated federal and state or D.C. laws covering minimum wage, overtime and sick leave."

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Late-night comedians had a field day with Comey's appearance on Capitol Hill: