Comey Indicted On Two Felony Counts — Trump Hints “There’ll Be Others”
Eight months into his second term, the first of President Trump’s political enemies — former FBI Director James Comey — was indicted late Thursday on two counts: making false statements to Congress and obstructing its investigation into the Russia probe.
It came days after President Trump publicly demanded prosecutions of his political rivals, calling them “guilty as hell.” On Friday, Trump said, “I think there’ll be others... I hope there are others.” Historically, there has been a clear line between the White House and the Justice Department and direct calls by a president to prosecute political opponents is unprecedented in modern US history.
WHAT’S NEXT
Comey responded Thursday, asserting that he is innocent and that his “heart is broken for the Department of Justice,” but he has “great confidence” in the federal judicial system. He is expected to be arraigned on Oct. 9 before U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff — a Biden appointee (more on him here) — where he is expected to enter a plea deal. Each felony charge carries up to five years in prison.
Trump posted “JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” on Truth Social, later calling Comey a “destroyer of lives” and “A DIRTY COP.”
Rewind: The charges stem from Comey’s Sept. 30, 2020 Senate testimony, when he told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) he stood by earlier claims that he never authorized FBI leaks about investigations into then-President Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A 2018 DOJ inspector general report said Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, claimed his boss authorized him to leak to the media. But the same report found McCabe also gave false or misleading statements. TRANSLATION: This appears to be an extremely challenging case to get a conviction on.
Prosecutors in Comey’s case now face the tougher challenge of convincing both a judge and a trial jury that he is guilty of the charges put forward. The case could also be tossed out before it even gets to trial. Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara put it bluntly on X: “These charges will likely end in spectacular failure for the government.”
BIGGER PICTURE
Top DOJ officials are now pushing to charge Trump’s former adviser-turned-critic John Bolton. They also ordered an investigation into billionaire Democratic donor George Soros’ Open Society Foundation for possible “material support of terrorism.”
Last week, Trump fired a U.S. attorney who had declined to bring charges against Comey and other political foes due to lackluster evidence. Trump replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House adviser and former Trump defense attorney with no prior prosecutorial experience.
Asked if he worried that Democrats could do the same to him and his allies, Trump pointed to his own indictments during the previous administration. He blamed them: “They weaponized the Justice Department, like nobody in history... you can’t let this happen to a country.”