Before former FBI director James Comey even began his highly-anticipated testimony at a U.S. Senate intelligence committee Thursday morning, Shaw鈥檚 Tavern in Washington, D.C. was already at capacity, with another 200 people waiting outside.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty crazy,鈥� the bar鈥檚 general manager, Rob Heim, told 麻豆传媒 Channel. 鈥淲e are overwhelmed by the amount of people that have turned out.鈥�

Shaw鈥檚 Tavern was just one of many bars in Washington filling up for what some are calling this year鈥檚 Super Bowl of American politics. Lineups at some bars formed as early as 6 a.m.

Within the first hour of his testimony, Comey delivered stunning remarks about U.S. President Donald Trump, who fired him last month amid an ongoing FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Comey described a series of 鈥渁wkward鈥� and 鈥渃oncerning鈥� meetings with Trump after he was elected president. He told the intelligence committee that he started documenting the conversations because he was concerned that Trump 鈥渕ight lie鈥� about the nature of their meetings.

In a written statement released ahead of his testimony, Comey had already described how Trump demanded "loyalty" from him and asked him to "lift the cloud" of the Russia investigation.

It all translated into must-see TV across the United States, and especially in the nation鈥檚 capital.

One Washington bar, the Union Pub, was reportedly offering a free round of drinks every time Trump tweeted about Comey during the testimony. Alas, Trump鈥檚 Twitter account was silent as Comey answered senators鈥� questions.

Tom Bindley, the co-owner of Duffy鈥檚 Irish Pub in Washington, described his workday as 鈥渧ery surreal.鈥�

鈥淲e opened early and we had quite the crowd, right off the bat,鈥� he told 麻豆传媒 Channel.

He said everyone was glued to the TVs as Comey spoke and some patrons even 鈥渟hushed鈥� the bar staff who were calling out drink orders.

But there were also rounds of applause, prompted by some of Comey鈥檚 comments, Bindley said.

One of those moments was when Comey said: 鈥淟ordy, I hope there are tapes,鈥� in reference to his conversations with Trump.

Duffy鈥檚 pub even served a covfefe cocktail, a tribute to

At Shaw鈥檚 Tavern, patrons could order Russian vodka and FBI sandwiches 鈥� fried chicken, bacon and iceberg lettuce. 

鈥淣o one is working today,鈥� bar patron Todd Shaffer told The Associated Press.

That was true for Stephanie Williams, who took the day off from her job as a public health intern.

  "This is the kind of thing our children are going to be talking about in history classes," she told AP.

Heim, the manager of Shaw鈥檚 Tavern, said the bar was always jam-packed during the presidential election debates and, of course, on election night last November.

鈥淏ut this is our first Congressional hearing,鈥� he said.

With files from The Associated Press