Comey will testify on June 8, media prep at fever pitch

June 8 it is. Prep is at fever pitch in America’s newsrooms for the high drama media event next week - Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8 as part of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and collusion with President Donald Trump’s campaign. The Committee said Comey will testify in an open session at 10 a.m., followed by a closed session. Former FBI chief Comey was unceremoniously fired by Trump on May 9 while he was in the West Coast addressing team members. [caption id=“attachment_3503497” align=“alignleft” width=“825”]  Head-on collision coming up next week/ Reuters[/caption] Soon after, the New York Times and Washington Post scooped stories on how Trump reportedly told Comey to drop an investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. “ ‘I hope you can let this go,’ the president reportedly told Comey. The wildly unpredictable Trump-led White House has powered a return to the fiercest news gathering war since the Watergate scandal in the 1970s that led to Nixon’s fall from grace with the Post and New York Times matching each other scoop for scoop round the clock. “We tell people what they didn’t already know. We hold government and powerful people and institutions accountable”, says Post editor Martin Baron in a recent interview on how the killer app is and always will be investigative journalism. Expect both the Post and New York Times to be firing on all cylinders next week. But before that, these are the stories playing on loop in Washington D.C. Will U.S exit climate deal? That’s at 3 pm EST At 3 pm local time Thursday, we’ll know if Donald Trump goes ahead and pulls the U.S. out of the Paris climate-change agreement, which has the backing of a hundred and ninety-five countries and was brokered after many sleepless nights over endless coffee by Obama’s most trusted colleagues. Trump’s Twitter posts and The White House are both signalling that Trump is likely to exit the global pact although top aides prefer to tread middle ground with caveats in the fine print instead of a walkout. What does Trump’s coterie stand on this? Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wants Trump to stay in, chief strategist Steve Bannon supports an exit ( this works for America’s coal belt which voted heavily for Trump). fireworks next week but before that Putin denies state involvement in hacking More grist on the Russia story as America waits for the James Comey revelations. Russian President Vladimir Putin waded into the swirling controversy making the distinction once again between patriotic hackers and the state. “We don’t engage in that at the state level. No hackers can influence election campaigns in any country of Europe, Asia or America”, Putin said at a meeting with senior editors of leading news agencies. U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking into Democratic Party emails, helping President Donald Trump’s election victory. #CrookedHillary is back That hashtag has been dusted out and in circulation once more as Trump and Hillary Clinton are back to trading jabs on Twitter. Speaking at a tech conference in the US West Coast, Clinton ratcheted up her old war cry that Russian cyber attacks cost her the 2016 election. Riding on the news that sacked FBI chief James Comey will testify as early as next week confirming Trump pressurised him to let go the investigation into Michael Flynn’s links with Russia, Clinton is back from her silence zone and will likely stay that way unless Comey gives Trump a clean chit. ‘Covfefe’ lives on Despite the looming Comey bombshell, Donald Trump’s wacky humor has millions contemplating total balderdash - “Covfefe”. A California man has Trump’s midnight typo as his numberplate, we also know that Trump’s nine day excursion to Arabia hasn’t changed his sleep cycle - 4 hours lasting from the midnight tweet till the next one; those who invert their body clock to match Trump’s and set their Twitter notifications on will be richly rewarded.