Former FBI Director James Comey testified today in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The right is saying that his testimony exonerated the President, while the left is saying he painted a picture showing obstruction of justice which could lead to impeachment.

Here are the top take aways from his testimony:

Does “hope” infer obstruction?

The obstruction of justice claims ride on one word: “hope”. During a private meeting between the President and then Director Comey, the President said:

I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go

When asked about whether he took this as an order, former Director Comey said:

COMEY: I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone, saying, “I hope” this. I took it as, this is what he wants me to do.

Senator Risch then followed up with:

RISCH: OK, do you (ph) — you don’t know of anyone that’s ever been charged for hoping something. Is that a fair statement?

COMEY: I don’t, as I sit here.

He was asked by Senator Manchin directly whether or not he thought the President obstructed justice, he deflected to the Special Counsel Bob Mueller:

MANCHIN: Do you believe this will rise to obstruction of justice?

COMEY: I don’t know. That — that’s Bob Mueller’s job to sort that out.

Comey blames the Russia Investigation for his firing

When Senator Feinstein asked him why he felt like he was fired, he responded:

COMEY: Guess I don’t know for sure. I believe the — I take the president at his word, that I was fired because of the Russia investigation. Something about the way I was conducting it, the president felt, created pressure on him that he wanted to relieve.

He lated added:

COMEY: I was fired, in some way, to change — or the endeavor was to change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted.

Comey didn’t trust the President

He was asked numerous times through his testimony why he decided to take careful notes of meetings with the President. He said:

COMEY: And then the nature of the person: I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document. That combination of things, I’d never experienced before, but it led me to believe I’ve got to write it down, and I’ve got to write it down in a very detailed way.

Loretta Lynch calls Clinton Investigation a “Matter” not an “Investigation”

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch came under fire after the former Director testified that she made a point of calling the Clinton Investigation a “matter”. She had previously been critiqued for meeting with former President Clinton on an airport tarmac during the investigation into his wife.

LANKFORD: And then you made a comment earlier about the attorney general — previous attorney general — asking you about the investigation on the Clinton e-mails, saying that you’d been asked not to call it an “investigation” anymore, but to call it a “matter.”

COMEY: And I wanted to know, was she going to authorize us to confirm we had an investigation? … And she said, yes, but don’t call it that, call it a matter.

Comey leaked his own memos to get a Special Counsel appointed

After the President tweeted:

former Director Comey decided he would have a close friend release some of his memos:

COMEY: And my judgment was, I needed to get that out into the public square. And so I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. Didn’t do it myself, for a variety of reasons. But I asked him to, because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. And so I asked a close friend of mine to do it.

The President was not specifically under investigation

The President had remarked that the former Director had told him on numerous occasions that he was not under investigation. He confirmed this fact during his testimony:

RISCH: I — I think, secondly, I gather from all this that you’re willing to say now that, while you were director, the president of the United States was not under investigation. Is that a fair statement?

COMEY: That’s correct.

To watch the full testimony, check out Time Magazines video here. Or read the New York Times transcript here.