Why did President Trump goad our ally Saudi Arabia into cutting diplomatic ties with our other ally Qatar, home of CENTCOM?

MSNBC reporting White House sources says Trump “may not have known” the US has troops based in Qatar.

— Simon Marks (@SimonMarksFSN) June 8, 2017

This sounds all too plausible, I’m afraid.

It’s John McCain’s turn to question Comey, and he’s babbling on about how confused he is. How could Comey have finished up the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server last year, and yet the investigation of Russia’s interference in the election is ongoing. HOW CAN THAT BE? IT’S A DOUBLE STANDARD!!!

I have no idea what McCain is trying to say here. This is a bizarre line of questioning. He’s genuinely asking how it’s possible that an investigation of Clinton could be concluded while an investigation of Trump on a different subject hasn’t been concluded. Then he drooped a bit and referred a couple of times to “President Comey” before Comey stepped in and reminded McCain that he was right there. When McCain’s time was up, he puffed up his cheeks and shook his head as though he had uncovered something truly damning that no one else understood.

Does McCain have a cold and is loopy from a little too much Nyquil? Or what?

Steve Benen rounds up President Trump’s lies:

Though Comey’s statement didn’t highlight this, the information the former FBI director documented suggests the president didn’t just obstruct justice — he also brazenly lied about it to the American public.

1. Trump was asked on Fox News last month whether he ever asked Comey for his loyalty. Trump responded, “No, I didn’t.” We now have reason to believe this was a lie.

2. Trump was asked at a White House press conference last month, “Did you at any time urge former FBI Director James Comey in any way, shape, or form to close or to back down the investigation into Michael Flynn?” Trump replied, “No. No. Next question.” We now have reason to believe this was a lie, too.

3. Trump was asked by NBC News’ Lester Holt about the private dinner he had with Comey, and the president said the FBI director “asked for the dinner.” We now have reason to believe this was also a lie.

In other words, before the hearing even begins, and senators help explore Comey’s account in more detail, the former FBI director has documented specific instances about the president of the United States lying to the public about his alleged misconduct.

That’s three more to add to the pile.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma: Did President Trump ever ask you a second time to drop the Flynn-Russia investigation? No? Pretty light touch from the president, eh?

Lankford again: Is there really any difference between the President’s tweets and a private conversation in the Oval Office with the director of the FBI? Everyone already knew Trump didn’t like the Russia investigation, didn’t they?

Comey totally shuts Lankford’s suggestion that Trump only casually suggested that the FBI drop the Flynn invest.pic.twitter.com/SmMFGFc7m3

— Thinker (@areta) June 8, 2017

Lankford yet again: Hey, let’s talk about Hillary’s emails.

For chrissake.

Canada has caved in to President Trump’s pressure and will increase its defense spending 70 percent!

That means Canada would spend about 1.4 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2026-27, up from about 1.2 percent now.

Oh. So that 70 percent figure doesn’t account for inflation. It’s nice to see Canada promising to spend more, but going from 1.2 percent of GDP to 1.4 percent is a little less impressive than the spin from Ottawa. That’s 17 percent in real terms.

Let me get this straight. The Comey hearing is now about an hour old, and the Republican pushback is that Comey is confirming President Trump’s contention that he was never personally under investigation by the FBI. It’s a win for Trump!

Seriously? That’s it? They’re pretending that this is what the whole Comey thing is about? Do they think this is going to fly with either the media or the public? Hell, even “moderate Republican” Susan Collins is mostly obsessing about whether Trump was personally under investigation.

This is pathetic.

I’ve had this in an open tab for a couple of days, but it’s too interesting to close out without sharing:

This is from Josh McCrain, a grad student at Emory. For some reason, salaries for congressional aides have been declining for the past two decades. (All figures are adjusted for inflation.) The only exception is for staff assistants, who can hardly be paid any less.

Why? I have no theories. Maybe in the same way that Silicon Valley engineers are attracted by stock options more than salary, congressional aides these days are attracted mostly by post-Congress lobbying opportunities. Anybody have any other ideas?

Hooray! Comments are working again.

Just for the record, here is Donald Trump’s job approval rating on the day before James Comey testifies:

How bulletproof is Trump? His job approval rating over the next couple of weeks should give us an idea.

These are all from Donald Trump:

January 27, to James Comey: “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.”

February 24, to Comey: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.”

Over the next two months, Comey declines to let Flynn go. On May 9, Trump fires Comey.

May 11, to Lester Holt: “Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself — I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.”

I’m no lawyer, but what more do you need? As Ben Wittes says of Comey’s testimony confirming his conversations with Trump, “It is the most shocking single document compiled about the official conduct of the public duties of any President since the release of the Watergate tapes.”