020 7898 0500As the UK was steeped in general election fever and the ECB undertook its June policy meeting, over the pond saw the appearance of James Comey, the former FBI Director who was fired by Trump. Comey is testifying about his interactions with President Trump relating to the investigation into Michael Flynn and Russian interference in the US election.
Trump cited Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation as the reason for his firing and lawmakers will be interested to find out whether this was in fact the case. The conduct of the President through the process will also be of interest and markets will be looking for signs that Trump has done anything that might warrant his departure from office.
The testimony by Comey reveals Trump put pressure on him to drop enquiries related to an ongoing investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. However, it could come down to semantics – many senators were keen to stress that Trump never actually explicitly told him to drop the investigation, though there was an allusion to the line in Shakespeare’s Henry II that reads ‘Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?’.
The dollar started the day strong but weakened against the pound as election momentum picked up in the UK. Today sees the after effects of the result from the election dominating proceedings, with no US tier data to spoil the election party.
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