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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus discuss the Comey testimony, and the legal debate about cellphone data privacy, and they welcome Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to the stage to weigh in on the state of the Democratic Party.
Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show:
- Former FBI Director James Comey’s full remarks published a day before his testimony.
- Philip Allen Lacovara writes in the Washington Post: “I helped prosecute Watergate. Comey’s statement is sufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice case.”
- Adam Entous writes in the Washington Post: “Top intelligence official told associates Trump asked him if he could intervene with Comey on FBI Russia probe”
- Thomas B. Edsall writes in the New York Times: “Has the Democratic Party Gotten Too Rich for Its Own Good?”
Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:
- Emily: Vox’s piece about the leaked regulation rolling back Obamacare’s birth control mandate.
- Ruth: Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, by Thomas Ricks.
- David: The Trump administration’s claim that 50,000 coal jobs had been created.
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, the hosts take questions from the audience in Denver. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gabfestplus.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest (#heygabfest). (Tweets may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Become a fan of the Political Gabfest on Facebook. We post to the Facebook page throughout the week, so keep the conversation going by joining us there. Or follow us @SlateGabfest. The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank. Links compiled by Kevin Townsend.
