President Trump’s Justice Department has indicted former FBI director James Comey, someone the president has hated for years. Yet just before this, The New York Times reported a surprising turn of events: Career prosecutors reportedly informed DOJ political appointees that they had not been able to find evidence that would sustain a conviction. As the Times noted, a prosecutor handpicked by Trump was “racing” to secure an indictment anyway. Confirming the absurdity of this, the indictment was only signed by that handpicked prosecutor. All this could provide grounds to contest the prosecution later, and exposes Trump’s corruption of the justice system in a broader sense. We talked to Talking Points Memo editor-at-large David Kurtz, author of a great piece on this travesty. He explains the deeper states at play, the recourse we have, and why we need new language to capture what’s really happening here. (We recorded this just before Comey was indicted, but if anything, this has gotten even worse: The Times just reported additional damning details on how thin the indictment truly is.) Listen to this episode here.
PODCAST
Trump’s Push to Jail James Comey Exposed as Corrupt in Damning Report
As Trump’s demand for prosecution of Comey suddenly looks even worse, the author of a new piece on this travesty explains the deeper stakes of our plunge into lawlessness—and the recourse we have now.

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Former FBI director James Comey in New York City on May 30, 2023.