WASHINGTON – Starting at 10 a.m.: Senate Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats. Witnesses include FBI acting director Andrew McCabe, DNI Dan Coats, CIA Dir. Mike Pompeo, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers and others.
The Senate intelligence committee will host acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe for what would have otherwise been a fairly ordinary hearing Thursday -- before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey amid a firestorm of questions about the Russia investigations.
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McCabe will now take the seat that was to be filled by Comey Thursday and will likely be the target of some probing by senators angry over how Comey was fired by Trump. The questions about connections between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives are burning hotter than ever.
Here are the five things to watch at Thursday's hearing.
1. Will senators consider McCabe a credible director?
Just one day after Comey was fired, Senate judiciary committee Chairman Chuck Grassley was already lacing into his (potentially) temporary replacement, McCabe.
McCabe, Grassley said, is too much of a partisan in support of Democrats and will not be credible.
"He's got political problems because of (Virginia Gov. Terry) McAuliffe helping his wife and I don't think he's the person that should be taking over," Grassley said.
McCabe's wife ran for Virginia state senator as a Democrat in 2015, and was defeated by a Virginia Republican, something that may not raise any eyebrows in a typical setting -- but in this highly charged environment, almost everything is being questioned by lawmakers.
2. Will McCabe's oversight of the FBI end up being a moot point?
Almost as soon as he became acting director, McCabe was already facing a possibly tenuous run atop the agency, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein interviewed four to eight candidates for the job of FBI director Wednesday.
The pair, a Justice Department official said, could announce their nominee as soon as Thursday.
It could be a very short tenure for McCabe -- or it could be the start of a long relationship if Sessions and Rosenstein decide McCabe is their man.
Senators will have a chance to test McCabe at Thursday's hearing. The White House, meanwhile, will likely be listening in on reactions to McCabe.
Whomever Trump picks will have to win the support of at least 50 Republican senators (with Vice President Mike Pence acting as a tie-breaking vote.) It's almost guaranteed Democrats will vote en masse against any Trump nominee, following their outrage over his handling of the Comey firing. Losing Grassley on a nominee would make the White House's job infinitely harder.
3. Is the White House looking for a strong presence in public?
Comey was, undeniably, a forceful director in public settings -- from his surprising announcement at the end of the Hillary Clinton email investigation through to his last public hearing as FBI director -- where he publicly announced his rationale for breaking from the Justice Department in making the decision to publicly speak about the Clinton matter, a move that ultimately contributed to his firing.
Watch McCabe to see how far he veers from the White House script, if at all.
4. Will Senate investigators be confident that McCabe or any Trump nominee will help them?
Until Tuesday, Comey was actively working with Senate Russia investigators, even meeting with them Monday to tell them that he had requested additional resources for his own probe.
And, unlike House investigators, members of the Senate intelligence committee have said they have never had any problems getting access to intelligence needed for their investigation.
That could easily change under whomever Trump nominates to replace Comey.
5. Comey's been invited back to the Senate, so how about Sessions and Rosenstein?
Senate intelligence Chairman Richard Burr and Sen. Mark Warner, the Russia Senate investigation's top Democrat, invited Comey to testify before them in a closed hearing Tuesday, now as a private citizen.
That would give Senate investigators Comey's side of the story. But what about the pair that recommended he be fired: Sessions and Rosenstein?
Democratic lawmakers have said they would like answers -- it remains to be seen if they will be pulled before Congress as well.
More background from AP:
Justice Department leaders are interviewing Wednesday four veteran law enforcement and intelligence officials for the role of interim FBI director, officials said.
The position is currently held by Andrew McCabe, top deputy to ex-FBI Director James Comey, who President Donald Trump fired on Tuesday evening.
Justice Department officials identified the contenders as Adam Lee and Michael Anderson, who run the FBI's field offices in Richmond, Virginia, and Chicago, respectively. Others are Paul Abbate, who oversees the FBI's criminal and cyber branch, and William Evanina, the government's chief counterintelligence officer and a former FBI supervisor.
McCabe met with Justice officials on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how seriously he is being considered.
The interim chief would serve until Congress confirms a permanent director, which could take some time given bipartisan angst over Comey's firing. The Senate intelligence committee said it expects McCabe to appear at a hearing Thursday on current and projected national security threats.
The acting director would be able to serve in the position without Senate confirmation.
McCabe previously supervised the FBI's Washington field office, one of its largest, and also held leadership positions in counter-terrorism and intelligence work.
McCabe's actions are among the decisions being scrutinized in an ongoing Justice Department inspector general probe of the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. That investigation is looking into whether McCabe should have recused himself from the Clinton case after his wife received large campaign contributions from a Clinton ally during her failed Senate run
The FBI has said that when his wife first considered running for the seat, McCabe consulted with FBI ethics officers for guidance to prevent against actual or potential conflict of interest.
