Comey has this ONE chance to redeem his reputation against Trump's charges
...everything about Comey indicates that he's highly protective of his image and reputation (and by extension, that of the FBI), more than he is with making political gestures.
That said, he has absolutely no guarantee that Mueller will redeem him completely of Trump's charges in some future report. Comey doesn't have the luxury in his relatively young life (career-wise) to sit in the shadows while his name is used as fodder by the Trump team.
He needs to put his version of events on the public table now, and try and maintain control of the narrative. Otherwise, he could be framed without a chance to fully rebuke Trump's smears.
Trump has already taken any claim of Executive privilege out of the mix by putting forward his version of events and characterization of the fired AG. Comey, as a private citizen, doesn't have a conflict discussing his own actions, so, if he comes in looking to clear his name I'd expect him to forthcoming about the conversations he's said he had with Trump and detailed about what alarmed him about Trump's attempts get him to sideline the investigations.
All it's going to take is a legislator asking one important question he's willing to respond to candidly, and the entire focus of the hearing (and the investigation) can shift dramatically. This isn't a static appearance, it's a dynamic event which hold a lot of promise for further ensnaring Trump, so I think the hype over the appearance is justified.
After all, why would Comey INSIST on a PUBLIC hearing just to provide nothing more than what he's already shared with the public?
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