NBC, ABC Go Live With James Comey Hearing
Add NBC News to the growing list of outlets that will be covering the testimony of former FBI director James Comey live when he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee June 8.
Coverage of the 10 a.m. hearing begins at 9 a.m. on Today. Anchoring that coverage from Washington will be NBC News chief legal correspondent Savannah Guthrie, with Matt Lauer co-anchoring from New York.
Starting at 10 a.m., anchoring duties will be shared among Guthrie, Lester Holt and Chuck Todd from Washington. Holt will stay in Washington to anchor the Nightly News.
ABC also said it will prevent special live coverage of the testimony, anchored by George Stephanopoulos and featuring Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross, congressional correspondent Mary Bruce and chief legal analyst Dan Abrams.
Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about "his role in the development of the Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 US elections," said committee chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) back when the hearing was announced.
The hearing follows a report in the New York Times that the President had personally asked Comey to back off the investigation of former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn over his contacts with Russian officials.
Trump subsequently fired Comey, then reportedly told Russian officials Comey was a "nut job" and that his exit had relieved some pressure on the President.
Comey is expected to confirm the contents of the memo at the hearing, though how he characterizes the conversation will be key.
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Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.