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| In this Wednesday, May 3, 2017 photo, then-FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. A nonprofit issues group is labeling James Comey a political "showboat" in an advertisement set to air on television Thursday, the day the former FBI director testifies on Capitol Hill. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- The White House and its allies are scrambling for ways to
offset potential damage from fired FBI Director James Comey's highly
anticipated congressional testimony, an appearance that could expose new
details about his discussions with President Donald Trump about the
federal investigation into Russia's election meddling.
Asked
about the testimony, Trump on Tuesday was tight-lipped: "I wish him
luck," he told reporters before a meeting with lawmakers.
Tuesday
evening, a person familiar with the situation said Comey had asked
Attorney General Jeff Sessions to keep him from being alone with Trump.
The
person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke
on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the request was
made because of concerns Comey had about Trump.
It
was not immediately clear when the conversation occurred. But The New
York Times, which first reported the request to Sessions, said it came
after Trump had asked Comey in February to end an investigation into
Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Trump's
White House and its allies are crafting a strategy aimed at undermining
Comey's credibility. Both White House officials and an outside group
that backs Trump plan to hammer Comey in the coming days for
misstatements he made about Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails during his
last appearance on Capitol Hill.
An ad
created by the pro-Trump Great America Alliance - a nonprofit "issues"
group that isn't required to disclose its donors - casts Comey as a
"showboat" who was "consumed with election meddling" instead of focusing
on combating terrorism. The 30-second spot is slated to run digitally
on Wednesday and appear the next day on CNN and Fox News.
The
Republican National Committee has been preparing talking points ahead
of the hearing, which will be aired live on multiple TV stations. An RNC
research email Monday issued a challenge to the lawmakers who will
question Comey. There's bipartisan agreement, the email says, that Comey
"needs to answer a simple question about his conversations with
President Trump: If you were so concerned, why didn't you act on it or
notify Congress?"
Comey's testimony before the
Senate intelligence committee marks his first public comments since he
was abruptly ousted by Trump on May 9. Since then, Trump and Comey
allies have traded competing narratives about their interactions. The
president asserted that Comey told him three times that he was not
personally under investigation, while the former director's associates
allege Trump asked Comey if he could back off an investigation into
Michael Flynn, who was fired as national security adviser because he
misled the White
House about his ties to Russia.
Democrats
have accused Trump of firing Comey to upend the FBI's Russia probe,
which focused in large part on whether campaign aides coordinated with
Moscow to hack Democratic groups during the election. Days after Comey's
firing, the Justice Department appointed a special counsel, former FBI
Director Robert Mueller, to oversee the federal investigation.
Despite
the mounting legal questions now shadowing the White House, Trump has
needled Comey publicly. In a tweet days after the firing, he appeared to
warn Comey that he might have recordings of their private discussions,
something the White House has neither confirmed nor denied.
White
House officials appear eager to keep the president away from television
and Twitter Thursday, though those efforts rarely succeed. White House
spokesman Sean Spicer said the president plans to attend an
infrastructure summit in the morning, then address the Faith and Freedom
Coalition's "Road to Majority" conference at 12:30 p.m.
"The president's got a full day on Thursday," Spicer said.
The
White House had hoped to set up a "war room" stocked with Trump allies
and top-flight lawyers to combat questions about the FBI and
congressional investigations into possible ties between the campaign and
Russia. However, that effort has largely stalled, both because of a
lack of decision-making in the West Wing and concerns among some
potential recruits about joining a White House under the cloud of
investigation.
"If there isn't a strategy, a
coherent, effective one, this is really going to put us all behind the
eight ball. We need to start fighting back. And so far, I don't see a
lot of fight," said Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign aide.
Still, Trump supporters say they are willing to step in to help the White House deflect any accusations from Comey.
"If
we feel he crosses a line, we'll fire back," said Ed Rollins, chief
strategist of Great America PAC, the political arm of the group airing
the Comey ad.
Rollins and others with Great America say they plan to stand up for Trump in cable appearances Thursday.
He
said the White House has "improved" its communications with surrogates,
starting with the president's recent trip abroad, and frequently holds
call-ins to discuss what story lines they'd like to push.
"I
assume they'll do the same thing with this," Rollins said of the Comey
hearing. However, he added, he had not heard from the White House about
the Comey hearing as of midday Tuesday.
