Experts in the News | Miller Center

Trump on presence of tapes: 'You'll know shortly'

Marc Selverstone, chair of the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings Program, is interviewed on CNN about James Comey's testimony

Marc Selverstone

Comey testimony

Miller Center Senior Fellow Chris Lu interviewed on al Jazeera about James Comey's testimony

Chris Lu

Politics

'If there are tapes...'

Why it feels like we're fast-forwarding through Watergate—and why congressional committees must subpoena any and all Trump tapes.

Ken Hughes

Comey hearings fallout? Depends on the listener.

“I would draw a distinction between the kinds of things that presidents do in pushing the bounds of their constitutional powers toward a policy end and pushing the envelope of presidential power in the realm of a criminal investigation,” says Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Barbara Perry

Will Comey’s Testimony Matter?

The president is a transgressive person, unaware of certain norms and willing to break known conventions. This posed a problem for Comey, who thought it was inappropriate for the president to speak to him about Flynn or ask for his loyalty. But asking for loyalty is what politicians do, including newly minted politicians. And the FBI does not have the legal independence that Comey wishes it had.

Saikrishna Prakash

Comey on Capitol Hill: UVA experts weigh in on what to watch for

“The big question hanging over the hearing is whether the president committed obstruction of justice. The focus will be not just on every contact and conversation Trump had with Comey on the Russia investigation, but what Comey made of them at the time. Did he think the president was trying to influence the investigation? To protect National Security Adviser Michael Flynn? To clear his presidential campaign of suspicion? To remove a potential sore point in U.S. relations with Russia?"

Ken Hughes