White House considers blocking Comey's congressional testimony

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 3 June 2017

Fired FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to give public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, June 8, unless the Trump White House attempts to block his appearance by invoking executive privilege, the nebulous presidential power to refuse compliance with information-gathering efforts from other parts of government.

The committee is expected to question Comey about his pre-ouster conversations with President Trump pertaining to Russian interference in the election, information that could prove politically damaging — but perhaps less so than silencing Comey.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Friday he does not know what the White House legal team would recommend, while counselor Kellyanne Conway implied Comey would likely be permitted to speak. However, she added, the "president will make that decision."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.