It’s been nine months and six days of war crimes, federal crimes, state crimes and psychopathy from the second Trump administration. There are new crimes every day, every hour from this administration, to the point where the rule of law has no meaning. The only silver lining is that Trump has hired some of the most incompetent, poorly-trained and stupid people ever. All of which to say, I couldn’t even remember why Trump was mad at James Comey, the former FBI Director who was one of the key players in handing Trump the 2016 election. Comey’s press conference about Hillary Clinton was one of the key events leading into the election’s final weeks. So why is Trump mad? Something about Russia, I guess. In any case, Comey made it onto Trump’s enemies list. On Thursday, Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury.
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, a culmination of President Trump’s relentless demand for retribution after the bureau investigated his 2016 presidential campaign over possible ties to Russia.
Mr. Comey was indicted on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding in connection with his testimony before a Senate committee in September 2020.
The indictment, filed in Alexandria, Va., came over the objection of career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia who found insufficient evidence to support charges but were overruled by Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist handpicked by the president to run the office a few days ago.
It represents the most significant legal step yet by the Trump administration to harry, punish and humiliate a former official the president identified as an enemy, at the expense of procedural safeguards intended to shield the Justice Department from political interference and personal vendettas.
The bare-bones, two-page indictment was signed only by Ms. Halligan, a former defense lawyer for Mr. Trump who personally presented the case to the jury, despite her lack of any previous prosecutorial experience. Typically such filings are also endorsed by career prosecutors who have gathered the evidence in the case. Court records indicate that Ms. Halligan also tried to get the grand jury to indict Mr. Comey on a second false statement charge, and that it was rejected.
Yeah, I completely understand how bad this is for the “system” and all of that. But A) I f–king despise Comey and he’s a huge reason why we’re in this mess. B) I refuse to see or speak about Comey like he’s a martyr. He’s not – he’s a career bureaucrat who made a conscious choice to tip the scale of public opinion in Trump’s favor, then acted shocked when Trump demanded fealty. C) None of this sh-t is going to hold up in the long run. In 2026 and 2027, when all of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel’s federal cases begin their trials and proceedings, ALL of the cases are going to completely fall apart. That goes for all of the recent high-profile shootings too – the FBI has already been caught manufacturing evidence and tainting potential jury pools. So, whatever. Jim Comey will be fine in the long run, and even if he’s not, I don’t give a sh-t.
🚨 BREAKING: James Comey posts a video statement following his indictment
"My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn't imagine ourselves living any other way.
We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either.… pic.twitter.com/7oisRjWAfK
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 26, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Former FBI Director James Comey, who was also involved in the Hilary Clinton email scandal, at Today FM's Matt Cooper Show with his new book 'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership',Image: 375743818, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not available for publication in Ireland, Model Release: no
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- (170608) — WASHINGTON, June 8, 2017 () — Former Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations James Comey arrives for a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 8, 2017. James Comey said Thursday during a Senate hearing that Trump in his words did not order the FBI to drop the investigation on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. (/Yin Bogu),Image: 512908250, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS excluding China- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Yin Bogu / Avalon
oh, spare me the self-righteous drama. Was Comey “standing up to Donald Trump” when he re-opened the investigation into Hiliary’s emails — and put out a press release about it — just weeks before polling day in 2016? GMAFB. I am mystified by career bureaucrats, middle management cogs, etc., who blunder into politics, get burned, and then play the victim. You don’t have to play politics. You can avoid them. If by “politics” you mean consequences, in the real world, for your choices. Make different choices. There is no such thing as a vacuum where “politics” doesn’t intrude, if, by politics, you mean consequences.
ALL OF THIS!👍😡
My first reaction to the news is – ‘it feels like karma, sounds like “Ha!”‘ BS indictment, but still.
So you support a dictator with the Putin-like fake charges against his political enemies. This is just a pretext to arresting law abiding citizens. All who cheer this cheer authoritarianism. Trump is already demanding voter names and info in all states. You don’t understand anything.
Agree. You don’t have to support Comey to see that this is another step toward fascism. And he is standing up to Trump now by speaking up and fighting these charges. That’s more than ABC, CBS, Columbia University, and Congress have done.
Jane, completely agree. I hate Comey for what he did in 2016 (although I don’t believe he caused the outcome of the election) but this is not good! Trump having people arrested because he bears some grudge against them is horrific whether we like them or not. Comey is just the beginning.
I don’t know if he has a choice. The charges are there. He has to fight them. Doesn’t make him one of the good guys. Agree that this is a start. On the other hand, Trump is foolish to open the Russian investigation up in court. The journalists will be salivating.
It’s not a step toward fascism it is fascism, we’re there already. This is exponentially worse than getting ABC affiliates to pull Jimmy Kimmel, for example. And from what I understand, it wasn’t a ‘true bill’ indictment nor did the jury foreman sign the indictment, just the brand new hand-chosen prosecutor, who’s never prosecuted anything before in her life.
And it’s not ‘charges’ it’s one charge, of lying to Congress.
I wonder if he regrets his role in keeping Hillary Clinton out of the White House in favor of trump.
I feel zero bad for him,
However, both as a historical precedent and as a note that we are not the same as the maga cult (who want bad things to happen to YOU but never THEM,)
This is horrific.
I’m proud of the attorneys who refused to sign.
And the “loyalist” sounds as competent as you’d expect from this band of mean spirited, racist morons. So the concept of justice has *that* on its side.
God help us all,
Perfectly said @Ariel!
Assuming we all make it out of this nightmare with our country still intact, I wonder how many of these dipsh*t loyalist attorneys will disbarred over all this crap? Should we make a running list and keep tabs?
Except this is not a natural consequence for what he did to Clinton, this is political retribution for what he did on Russian interference. They know he’s (deservedly) unpopular which makes him an easy target. The indictment is still corrupt.
Exactly.
I’m not on board with people saying “karma” and “well this is what he deserves.” so using the DOJ as a tool of personal retribution is okay when we don’t like the victim?
Nah. His actions towards Clinton were atrocious. But this is worse and on a different level.
I don’t understand how anyone can cheer Trump’s unlawful legal attack on his perceived political enemies. You don’t understand that this is just the beginning of his legal attacks on all of us. Remember that when he comes for you. He’s already started by demanding the voter rolls from every state. Unbelievable that some people here celebrate Putin-tactics – arresting or murdering your enemies.
He is coming for all of us. ICE thugs are kidnapping citizens; there’s a reporter in Georgia being held in detention fighting deportation–that reporter is a green-card holder, but reported on the No Kings rally in ATL in May & trump didn’t like it. The iceberg tipped long ago, we’re seeing the rest of it.
@Jane – I’m not seeing anybody “cheering” Trump’s quasi-legal attacks through his weaponized DOJ. Trump demanded voter rolls after the 2016 election also. Even in compliantly red Kansas, where his old vote-scare buddy Kris Kobach is AG, the data KS submitted excluded DL#s, and last four of SSN#s.
In other news the tRumplican Congress is sounding quietly docile about having to release new Epstein file data.
@Kirk Read the comments celebrating his indictment. They are yelling “karma” and he’s a jerk. This is not quasi-legal (what does that mean?). The trump doj squeezed out one indictment of possibly lying before Congress – another trump example of weaponized hypocrisy given how much they lie under oath. Trump said he plans to indict more of his enemies. This is a totalitarian tactic that Putin used just the other day. As for demanding voter rolls, it’s trump’s plan to intimidate voters and destroy voting. Trump is suing 6 states refusing to release that data. If it’s no big deal why are the states fighting it? Thanks to Elon trump and his billionaire oligarchs have all our data and voting info can be crossed referenced even without the last 4 SSN digits. I don’t understand why you underplay his evil when there’s ample evidence that once people give into him he bullies them more.
He is hated by everyone so he is an easy target. Also his daughter, Maurene, was the main prosecutor for the Feds in both the Jeffrey Epstein case and the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. She was fired by MAGA and is now suing the administration. Multiple levels of motivation here.
Kirk, I disagree. Read the first comments yelling “Karma”. The is not legal. Trump has no evidence to charge. He couldn’t get Justice Department lawyers to take the indictment so he brought in his usual MAGA beauty queen insurance lawyer who has no criminal experience. One lawyer left the justice dept just before the charge was announced. And as for Trump demanding voters’ information that is meant to intimidate and threaten voters. Thanks to Elon trump’s team has all our persinal information. If it weren’t a big deal why are Minnesota and Maine refusing to release the voter rolls? This is how dictators wear down the voting populace.
Multiple wrongs don’t make a right. Just because Comey is a slimeball who screwed us all, doesn’t mean Trump going after him is okay. NOTHING the Trump Admin is doing is okay.
I am so sick of this floundering administration doing whatever they can to deflect from their own corruption, evil and fucking nonsense. James Comey suuuuuucks but he didn’t commit this crime. Trump is an adjudicated rapist and criminal but he got the presidency. Fuck this shit. Priority one is to have free and fair elections in this country and get dark money out of our elections.
A couple of years ago I watched the Netflix documentary Fear City about NYC vs the mafia. It featured Rudy G in his hey day as the US Atty in NY who focused on mafia crime (little did we know until much later that this was all a ploy to allow mafia from another country to settle in and take over). Anyway, ol’ Comey who was the lead prosecutor at the time made a cameo about the charges. He was such a sanctimonious, self-righteous ahole during his remarks. He said something along the lines of even a whiff of wrongdoing will earn the attention of the authorities and we will not stand idly by, blah, blah, blah. He hit all the right notes in context of organized crime in NYC, but unironically, it was with that same sneer that he “had to do the right thing” 3 weeks before the 2016 election to bring Hilary’s emails BACK to the top of public awareness. It was the right thing to do he insisted.
Anyway, so here we are. Thanks a million Comey! He is being unfairly targeted and I hope he is vindicated quickly. But he’s in his FAFO era and I just don’t have extra sympathy for him right now.
He has always been a self righteous, sanctimonious prig. He basically moved in and took over the emails investigation in 2016 claiming Loretta Lynch was compromised for talking to Bill Clinton. Utter bull 💩. Even if Lynch recused herself, the head of the FBI was not the next in line to oversee the investigation. So some of this is on Lynch for not reining him in and even firing him if necessary. Because it was always clear he had an agenda regarding HRC, making totally inappropriate public statements about an ongoing investigation which never should have begun. Comey was the counsel for the Republicans on the original Whitewater committee. That was another right wing ratf**k operation. I hate his guts. Still, it’s wrong.
@Mrs Smith – Thanks for the recommendation on Fear City. I’ll keep an eye out for self-righteous prig who claims to have great respect for Reinhold Niebuhr, but can’t seem to recognize himself: “Man loves himself inordinately.”
I bet he’s sorry, now!
This is just Trump once again giving the MAGA base bread and circus. So they forget about the real Epstein Files. And for the media to chase this story and not. The recession and how our country is going down the drains.
And his love at playing Dictator giving Bondi her marching orders. He just chose low hanging fruit with Comey.
This is all just so corrupt.
James Comey is finding out that misogyny hurt everyone, including the misogynist.
This isn’t okay. Obviously. That can be true and I can still despise Comey. I finally watched the Martha doc on Netflix the other day and had forgotten how he went after her. I didn’t even rememger she wasn’t prosecuted for insider trading but for lying. Not that I’m saying she didn’t lie but the way he went after was wild. And then Hillary. So yeah. He’s something else.
That’s right! I forgot about Comey’s involvement in taking Martha down. He was featured in that documentary, too, being just as snide about “bringing a felon to justice.” Prosecuting Martha was such outrageous, double-standard bs, I was incensed. Regardless! We must stand together to save this bellowing, sniveling misogynist from the administration he helped elect. I’m being totally serious about saving his ass even though I hate this guy.
Yes! I really wanted to be like Martha and Hillary must be drinking some champagne…but then I realize no it’s not actually a great thing. It’s just Trump being a sadisitic fascist.
Sidenote: Lindsey Halligan is also the one Trump tapped to go after museums and censor them.
Obviously, Comey was the low hanging fruit, and this is just the beginning of Cheeto trying to jail his “enemies.” However, is he starting with Comey because he knows the left hates Comey too and so we’re not going to take to the streets over this one? A way of easing us into his fascist retribution parade? Or is he that stupid to think we on the left are going to care what happens to Comey? Of course we hate him. He is a huge reason we are in this nightmare.
In conclusion: Release the Epstein Files.
I don’t know what Trump personally thinks (surprising I know lol) but I think MAGA thinks the left loves comey. They don’t remember the Hillary thing, they remember Comey authorizing the Russia investigation and Trump firing him and then Comey testifying against Trump before Congress.
They don’t realize that many Democrats/liberals just kind of shrug at him. I appreciate what he did in testifying but he played a part in why we’re where we are today. But I also don’t think he has anything to fear with this as long as the legal process is followed (which is a big IF I know.)
Remember his line – “lordy I hope there are tapes.”
(I dont know if Hillary would have won without his press conference. I like to think she would have but we will never know at this point, which is the problem in my opinion. he didn’t let the election play out.)
She definitely tanked in the polls after he pulled that stunt right before the election. She had a pretty comfortable lead following the last debate and the country hadn’t gone completely off the deep end yet so…
@BrassyRebel there was definitely an impact but looking back, I don’t think its as significant as we thought at the time, especially considering how 2024 went. And unfortunately I think the country was farther off the deep end than many of us realized. Like I don’t think Comey is the reason she lost Michigan.
But like I said, unfortunately we’ll never know what would have happened had he not announced the reopening of the investigation or whatever – and that to me is the biggest issue. He should have just kept his mouth shut at the time and let the election play out especially bc it all ended up being a nothing burger. If she lost, she lost (although then we would still have the Russian interference to deal with.) If she won, then all the better.
And now classified plans are shared via Signal so nothing ever matters!!
(as an aside, the Russian interference investigation always ticked Trump off so much -that’s why he hates Comey – and that always kind of puzzled me because I thought, no one is saying your win was illegitimate, the investigation is to whether a foreign country tried to influence the outcome. No one was saying that the votes cast for trump weren’t actually cast for him. But now looking back…..I have to wonder how much election rigging might have been going on and if he was terrified that it was going to come out.)
James Comey didn’t use his power rightly when it really mattered, and now he’s experiencing the consequences of his actions. Stating the truth isn’t the same as agreeing it’s right. None of this is right. But I’m not going to waste a single tear or moment of distress over this.
What I want to know is why isn’t Merrick Garland on Trump’s enemies list?
This ⬆️. We wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place.
I’m always baffled by the use of the phrase “Trump loyalist.” Like…why? What would possess anyone to be such a person? Why does this type of human even exist?
Ask yourself what are Republicans overarching goals? (1) Tax cuts, especially for rich people and business, (2) Less regulation, esp for rich people and business.
Then ask yourself whether you think tRump has been effective at delivering Republicans goals? The answer is obviously yes. So Republicans will overwhelmingly support him even though they have to embrace unnatural allies (religious people, poor rural folk who are racist enough to vote for him) to stomach a smelly braggadocious whiner.
Yes, he is a piece of shit; yes, he has a lot of responsibility for the current dumpster fire in hell; yes, Hillary (and Martha) should have all the champagne and anything else they want—
But no way is this ok or acceptable. I watched Lawrence O’Donnell on this and Carol Leonnig was on (an excellent reporter) and she looked a bit shaken. For the first time, POTUS is directing to DoJ to go after his enemy. He’s not stopping here – he has a list – and so the pushback needs to be strong. It is a heart-breaking moment for us as a country and for the DoJ and you’d hope some of the more conservative DoJ members ones would have a realization of “oh, we’ve enabled all of this”. But I love living in a democracy more than I hate him. I’m saying the same when they go after Bolton for bullshit too.
And I haven’t seen any R speak out against this. Lindsay Graham, a former JAG (military lawyer), is all for it. Not that I expected otherwise b/c they’re all-in on fascism but it’s still a huge problem for us in ever getting through this mess.
I despise Comey with every fiber of my being. Maybe yelling Karma is wrong but mygawd I hope he understands is own role in destroying our republic.
A weird side-note:
Last night, in reading NPR’s Sep 25th story on artist Sally Mann + censorship, the name of Trump’s “examiner” of Smithsonian + other museums jumped out at me: Lindsey Halligan.
She’s now the new US Attorney prosecuting this case (even though she’s never prosecuted a case before, etc)
I’m not sure what this means: a shallow bench or she’s just so perfectly MAGA-Fox pretty or … ?
More seriously – Comey + Whatever, this prosecution is bad.