Benjamin Wittes: “James Comey’s seven-page written statement, released by the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon in connection with Comey’s impending testimony tomorrow, draws no conclusions, makes no allegations, and indeed, expresses no opinions. It recounts, in spare and simple prose, a set of facts to which Comey is prepared to testify under oath tomorrow. Despite this sparseness, or maybe I should say because of it, 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.”

“More than a dozen attorneys and crisis communications specialists have already started working for Trump associates touched by the unfolding Russia scandal, according to a Politico tally. People close to the probes say that number is only expected to grow as more than 20 other senior campaign aides and White House officials begin receiving subpoenas, grand jury summons and other requests from special counsel Robert Mueller as well as congressional committees.”

Politico: “The morning, at least, seemed to go reasonably well for President Trump. He announced a new F.B.I. director, and two intelligence chiefs told Congress the president had never pressured them to interfere in the investigation into Russian election meddling.”

“And then James B. Comey … dropped the hammer. By authorizing the immediate release of the opening statement he plans to give in his much anticipated appearance before a congressional committee on Thursday, he instantly changed the conversation back to his assertion that the president tried to shut down part of the F.B.I. investigation.”

“Mr. Trump may be relatively new to Washington, but Mr. Comey is not. A savvy veteran of the capital who has worked in high positions in multiple administrations, he has usually emerged on top in any internal power struggle. And in the month since his dismissal, Mr. Comey has shown why presidents are normally loath to fire F.B.I. directors.”

Jonathan Swan: “Like Sean Spicer on Tuesday, Sarah Sanders declined Wednesday to say President Trump has confidence in Jeff Sessions. It’s stunning that for two consecutive days, the top White House press people can’t say whether the President has confidence in his Attorney General.”

One possibility: “Trump has decided to publicly humiliate Sessions — leaving him hanging out unsupported for a while — as he did to Bannon and others when he was down on them.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Trump’s job approval rating has dipped to a new low, 34% to 57%.

Washington Post: “If you look at the trend in Quinnipiac’s polling since January, strong approval of the president’s job performance has faded in a number of constituencies — including Republicans and whites without college degrees.”

Fired FBI Director James Comey said President Trump told him at the White House “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty’’ in their private White House dinner conversation in January, according to written testimony prepared by Comey, the Washington Post reports.

“In written remarks submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday — a day before his much-anticipated testimony — Comey said he remembered nine separate private conversations with President Trump. Three were in person and six on the phone.”

When the president made his comments about loyalty at the Jan. 27 dinner, Comey wrote that “I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.’’

“Two of the nation’s top intelligence officials said in a hearing Wednesday they would not discuss specifics of private conversations with President Trump, declining to say whether they had been asked to push back against an FBI probe into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government,” the Washington Post reports.

“Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats refused to say whether it was true… that Trump asked Coats if he could reach out to then-FBI Director James B. Comey and dissuade him from pursuing the Michael Flynn matter.”

Said Coats: “I don’t believe it’s appropriate for me to address that in a public session.”

“One by one this winter, then-FBI Director James B. Comey pulled aside three of the bureau’s top officials for private chats. In calm tones, he told each of them about a private Oval Office meeting with President Trump — during which, Comey alleged, the president pressed him to shut down the federal criminal investigation of Trump’s then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn,” according to Vox.

“Those three officials, according to two people with detailed, firsthand knowledge of the matter, were Jim Rybicki, Comey’s chief of staff and senior counselor; James Baker, the FBI’s general counsel; and Andrew McCabe, then the bureau’s deputy director… Comey spoke to them within two days of his Oval conversation with Trump, the sources said, and recounted the president’s comments about the Flynn investigation.”

Jonathan Chait: “The metaphor of the ticking impeachment clock presupposes some relationship between the evidence that comes to light and the behavior of Congress. There is little evidence that the two are linked. Or, at least, the link is so weak that there is hardly enough room for additional evidence to produce the necessary response in Congress. One a scale of zero to ten, with ten being a videotape of Trump speaking in Russian to his handlers from the Kremlin, like Kevin Costner in the last scene in No Way Out, we’re currently at about 7.5.”

“Trump repeatedly demanded loyalty from the FBI director, asked that he halt his investigation into the Russia scandal, instructed other intelligence officials to pressure him to end the investigation — the precise action that forced Richard Nixon to resign — and then fired Comey for refusing to do so. Many of his associates have been caught lying about their meetings and financial ties with Russia and what they said at those meetings. His son-in-law and close adviser tried to establish a secret line of communication to Russia. All of this took place after Trump appeared on camera during the campaign asking Russia to hack his opponent’s emails. (This is not even to mention the ongoing profiteering from his office that, in a normal presidency, would be an all-consuming mega-scandal in its own right.)”

“The vast majority of the Republican Party has absorbed these developments, a numbing procession of leaks and shocking news developments, with no diminished confidence in Trump whatsoever.”

For members: What Will It Take for Republicans to Turn on Trump?

Mike Allen: “There was a familiar ring to this week’s revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in Trump’s doghouse (provoking a torrent of leaks that Sessions had threatened to resign).”

“Flip back through the clips, and you find: Reince in the doghouse … Sean in the doghouse … Bannon in the doghouse … National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in the doghouse … White House Counsel Don McGahn in the doghouse.”

“Even son-in-law Jared Kushner, who’s pretty close to untouchable, got a little chin music yesterday as the press pool got a glimpse of Trump’s meeting with congressional leaders. Trump said, to laughter: ‘Jared has actually become much more famous than me — I’m a little upset at that.'”

Axios: The guide to Trump’s dog house.