<\/p>\n
President won’t assert executive privilege to block it<\/p>\n
By John Eggerton<\/p>\n
A CBS News spokesperson said late Sunday<\/span> that the network plans to air the testimony of former FBI director James Comey in full and live on Thursday<\/span> (June 8<\/span>) at 10 a.m.<\/span> as a CBS News special report.<\/p>\n CBS This Morning<\/em> co-hosts Norah O\u2019Donnell, Gayle King and Charlie Rose will co-anchor the report.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The hearing follows a report in the New York Times<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n Trump subsequently fired Comey, then reportedly<\/a> told Russian officials Comey was a “nut job” and that his exit had relieved some pressure on the President.<\/p>\n Comey is expected to confirm<\/a> the contents of the memo at the hearing, though how he characterizes the conversation will be key.<\/p>\n CBS, along with the other broadcast nets, aired special reports last week covering the President’s speech<\/a> about withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement.<\/p>\n At presstime Sunday<\/span>, spokespeople for the other networks were checking on whether they, too, would be covering the testimony live on air. The hearing is scheduled to air on C-SPAN3 (as well as streamed on C-SPAN.org and on the (free) C-SPAN Radio app). PBS NewsHour<\/em> plans to stream it online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The White House Monday cleared the way for Comey to talk, while suggesting it could have blocked his testimony about a private conversation with the President had it chosen to.<\/p>\n “The President’s power to assert executive privilege is well-established,” the White House said in a statement. “However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s scheduled testimony.”<\/p>\n