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As it turned out, it was more difficult than one might expect to gauge Maui County residents' reaction to former FBI Director James Comey's televised testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
A Maui News invitation for readers to comment via email elicited no response as of 7 p.m. Thursday. Email queries to Maui leaders brought only two comments -- from Maui County Council Member Kelly King and Wailuku state Rep. Joe Souki.
Souki said a partisan Congress "doesn't bode well for an impeachment of (President) Trump."
"Hopefully, the special prosecutor will be able to get more comprehensive answers," he said. "Certainly, it won't be partisan. However, unless there are criminal charges, I believe that the House will not initiate an impeachment."
King said: "As a voting American who is very concerned with the investigation into Russian obstruction of the U.S. election process, I found today's testimony of former FBI Director James Comey to be extremely professional, fair and unbiased. The questions from senators, however, were typically partisan. Especially troubling was Sen. (John) McCain's attempt to insert former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a possible target of investigation of collusion with the Russians. We can only hope the Senate's political inquiry will not impede or skew the FBI investigation."
Comey's live testimony started at 4 a.m. HST Thursday. And, by the time most people were awake, he had completed his more than two hours of testimony.
He had a great deal to say, including his assertion that President Donald Trump fired him because he was angered with the way Comey was conducting the FBI's investigation into Russia's cyber-meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, including potential Russian ties with the Trump campaign. Comey said that the White House spread "lies, plain and simple" about the reasons he was fired.
Responding to a query from The Maui News, Kula resident Dick Mayer said it's hard to cope with "information overload."
"Wave after wave of information keeps flooding in," he said. And, "it makes it very tough to figure out what happened."
Mayer said he didn't wake up early enough to watch Comey testify, but he checked his computer first thing in the morning to read news accounts.
"There's so much information," he said. "I don't know how valid it is."
Mayer said it appeared that the "networks and media were trying to one-up their competitors."
He said there's so much information circulating that he hasn't reached an opinion on whether Trump should be impeached.
"I don't know what's real," he said. "I am confused, like a lot of people. What is the truth? There's so much information out there, and it keeps getting added to by the hour."
Mayer added that "I don't think the confusion is whether Trump is doing a good job or not. Trump is doing a poor job in leading America."
He said his confusion is over "what happened with the Russia affair and all the stories coming out of Washington about statements being made about various people."
Kihei resident Madge Schaefer said she didn't wake up early enough to watch Comey's testimony, but she followed news coverage.
Comey "comes across as a man of great integrity," she said.
She said he appears to be a man who judged that his character was impugned, and he's "trying to restore that by saying what went on."
"I admire him," she said.
She credited him for testifying that he was recounting "his perception of how things were said."
But "perception isn't always the same," Schaefer said. "Sometimes what the sender is sending is perceived differently."
She acknowledged that she is a Republican, although "not much of one."
Schaefer said that her party affiliation doesn't lead her to perceive Trump in a more positive light. "I'm not a blind Republican," she said. "I really do look at the issues."
She said she's troubled by the current climate of divisiveness.
"Now, this is a whole new era," she said. "It's not good. It's troubling to me that it's become so ugly, so black and white. . . . If you don't agree with me, then off with your head."
With all the chaos in Washington over Trump and the investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. elections, Schaefer said she wonders, "Who's running the country?"
* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.