In an unprecedented move, former FBI Director James Comey will today appear in court, at the direct demand of the US President
Today, Donald Trump gets something he’s wanted for years.
In an unprecedented move, former FBI Director James Comey will today appear in court, at the direct demand of the US President.
The moment marks a chilling turning point in American history. The President is openly, proudly using a justice department that will carry out his every whim to persecute a political enemy – not because of any imagined misconduct, but out of revenge for personal slights against him.
It’s a moment a lot of people feared was coming. Well, now it’s here.
Meanwhile, in Trump World:
- Bondi got both barrels
- …but said basically nothing
- Trump demanded the Governor of Illinois be jailed
- Furloughed workers won’t get back pay
- House Speaker Johnson runs scared of the last vote needed to release the Epstein files
You’ll find all this and more below. Here’s what you need to know.
Comey
1. Comey goes to court
James Comey appears in this afternoon in Virginia, where he’ll be arraigned on charges of lying to congress.
His case will be heard by Michael S. Nachmanoff, whom Trump last month derided as a “Crooked Joe Biden appointed Judge”.
The court hearing will almost certainly be brief, but will give Trump the optic he wanted – Comey, his tormentor, the man who pursued (legitimate) investigations into his campaign team’s links to Russia that dogged his first Presidency, dragged into court. Just like he was.
2. Bondi gets both barrels
Appearing before Congress yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi was pummelled with questions about her decision to indict Comey – a decision which followed very public lobbying from Trump.
“He has been transparent. In fact, 5 days before the indictment of Comey, he put this post up as instructions to you,” Senator Richard Blumenthal told Bondi.
“He didn’t mince words. He was very open and public that you should indict James Comey and others because they are ‘guilty as hell, no more delay, now.’ 5 days before you indicted.”
Blumenthal later brought up this photo of Bondi having dinner with Trump on the newly paved-over White House rose garden terrace, built to mirror his favourite glad-handing haunt at Mar A Lago.
3. …and then moans when she’s called out
Bondi, of course, refused to answer any questions about the President demanding the prosecution of his political enemies in retribution for them attempting to hold him to account.
Nor did she answer questions about the brown bag of cash his border czar allegedly accepted from undercover FBI agents in return for the promise of privileged access and contracts during his second administration. Nor about the Epstein files.
In fact there were very few questions she did give a straight answer to.
But when she was called out for this, well, this happened:
The Invasion
4. Trump says Mayor of Chicago and Governor of Illinois should be jailed for resisting him
Trump posted on Truth Social calling for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to be imprisoned.
Why? Because they’re resisting his military invasion of Chicago.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” He tweeted. “Governor Pritzker also!”
5. Trump essentially confirms he’s planning to use insurrection act
Trump last night effectively confirmed he plans to use the Insurrection Act to allow him to direct the military to perform ‘police’ functions.
“Well, it’s been invoked before,” he said during an Oval Office Q&A.
And that’s true. Most recently it was invoked by George W Bush in a bid to quell the LA riots.
LBJ used it twice – once to quell riots in Detroit, and again amid unrest following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Point is, it’s only ever been invoked in a limited way, and only to tackle a specific and well defined outbreak of violence or unrest that police might struggle to tackle.
But that’s not what is happening now, and Trump admits it.
He said: “If you look at Chicago – Chicago is a great city where’s a lot of crime and if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do that job.”
It is absolutely not legal to use the Act to send troops into a state, with a justification as vague as “there is a lot of crime.”
Whatever he tries to do, there will be a challenge in the courts.
The Shutdown
6. Trump confirms he won’t pay back pay for some furloughed workers
Polling that shows people blaming Trump and the Republicans rather than Democrats for the week-old government shutdown, was a surprise to most people, not least the White House.
But it’s not clear denying back pay to people sent home while the shutdown drags on is going to help.
Asked whether back pay would be withheld during an Oval Office Q&A, Trump said: “It depends on who we’re talking about.”
He did not explain who would or wouldn’t get back pay.
After the longest government shutdown in 2019, Trump signed legislation into law that ensures federal workers receive back pay during any federal funding lapse.
But in a new memo, his Office of Management and Budget says back pay must be provided by Congress, if it chooses to do so, as part of any bill to fund government.
7. Trump blinks on benefits
One sign that the damage the shutdown is doing to the Republicans is finally sinking in can be seen in this massive reverse ferret the White House sneaked out last night.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that Trump has “identified a creative solution to transfer resources” from tariffs the administration has imposed on U.S. trading partners to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Also known as WIC, the program provides vouchers to buy infant formula as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk and other healthy staples but was threatened by the government shutdown.
Leavitt did not provide details of how such funding transfers might work. But she wrote that the Trump White House “will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry.”
Shutdowns are a game of chicken, and Trump’s car just screeched off the road.
The Epstein Files
8. Johnson still won’t swear in new congresswoman
House speaker Mike Johnson still hasn’t sworn in a new congresswoman who was elected more than two weeks ago.
In fact, just as Adelita Grijalva was about to be sworn last week, Johnson unexpectedly shut the House down for seven days.
Why? It might be because she has indicated she’d sign the “discharge petition” which would force a vote on whether to release the Epstein files.
The petition needs the signatures of a majority of the House, 218 members. It currently has 217 signatures. Critics accuse Johnson of stalling and trying to pressure Republicans to pull their names from the list before Grijalva can take the oath and sign the paper.
Johnson last night insists that’s not the reason, saying: “It has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back.”
Asked why not now? She’s in town and the House can hold a session to swear someone in whenever it likes.
“Uh,” he said. “We’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants.”
Grijalva has indicated, many, many times, in public, that she’d like it to happen now.
9. Bondi got all weird about Epstein investigation
During the aforementioned Congressional hearing, Pam Bondi was asked a bunch of times about the Epstein investigation – and was not entirely forthcoming.
Particularly interesting was the exchange between her and Democrat Dick Durbin.
“You pushed the FBI to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records…to flag any documents that mention President Trump,” he asked
“Who gave the order to flag any records which included Trump’s name?”
She replied: “I’m not going to discuss anything about that with you.”