Stipulating that President Trump’s insinuation that he recorded a conversation or conversations between himself and then-FBI Director James Comey is probably bullshit, let’s imagine it were true for a moment.

If there’s one thing we know about Comey it’s that, whatever his blindspots, his most prized asset is his claim to independence, or what we might call performative independence. His judgment might be flawed, or shaped by improper considerations, like the internal politics of the FBI, but he doesn’t make decisions that he can’t later account for under oath. And he’s not the kind of person who would get duped into surrendering that asset by a halfwit like Trump.

To the contrary, he is the kind of person who, faced with a compromising situation, starts taking notes and preparing for the moment when he’ll be able to vindicate his own behavior.

Almost 10 years ago to the day, Comey testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the Bush White House’s attempt to compromise the Justice Department’s independence, culminating in a dramatic confrontation at the hospital bedside of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

“You rushed to the hospital that evening, why?” asked Senator Chuck Schumer.