What Republicans Are Saying This Morning

Playbook: “Forget what the White House thinks of yesterday’s testimony. We spent the day in the Capitol, talking to Republican members of Congress — the ones that have to vote on President Donald Trump’s agenda — and they were absolutely shocked at how poorly yesterday went for the president. Publicly they say that the president is a political neophyte who is still learning the presidency. But privately, they said James Comey was extraordinarily convincing and Trump’s team absolutely botched their response. They’re all afraid of more shoes dropping.”

“Trump’s political standing on Capitol Hill is growing more and more perilous. Meanwhile, the RNC’s principal rebuttal seemed to be that the Obama administration had a bad day — which is true, but almost entirely irrelevant.”

“Republicans were shocked just how well Comey came across. He didn’t try to jam his viewpoint down the committee’s throat, he was confident but not cocky and admitted, on several occasions, that his impression of his interactions could’ve be faulty, but the evidence otherwise seemed overwhelming to lawmakers.”