10 things you need to know today: June 6, 2017

Trump decides not to try blocking Comey's testimony, contractor charged with leaking NSA report on Russian hacking, and more

James Comey testifies during an oversight hearing
(Image credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

1. Trump won't invoke executive privilege to block Comey testimony

President Trump will not assert executive privilege to try blocking former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before a congressional panel this week, the White House said Monday. "The president's power to assert executive privilege is well established," principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, but Trump won't do it because he wants to "facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee." Comey, who was fired by Trump last month, is expected to be asked about conversations in which he says Trump asked him about the FBI's investigation into Russia's attempts to influence last year's presidential election. Comey reportedly wrote memos in February recounting a conversation in which Trump urged him to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with Russian officials.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.