Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is has been full of ominous developments. Just as an authoritarian leader would, he is abusing the legal process to punish his opponents.
Alan Feuer Jonah E. Bromwich and Maggie Haberman at NYT:
The clearest way to understand the extraordinary nature of the indictment on Thursday of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, is to offer up a simple recitation of the facts.
An inexperienced prosecutor loyal to President Trump, in the job for less than a week, filed criminal charges against one of her boss’s most-reviled opponents. She did so not only at Mr. Trump’s direct command, but also against the urging of both her own subordinates and her predecessor, who had just been fired for raising concerns that there was insufficient evidence to indict.
The charges, which were filed around 7 p.m. in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., thrust the Justice Department into perilous new territory. The push for the indictment trampled over the agency’s long tradition of maintaining distance from the White House and resisting political pressure, and it raised the prospect of further arbitrary prosecutions pushed by Mr. Trump against his enemies.
Heightening the break-glass moment, the felony charges against Mr. Comey, who stands accused of making false statements and obstructing justice, were rushed into court as Mr. Trump’s handpicked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, hurried to beat the quickly approaching statute of limitations on Mr. Comey’s purported crimes.
I'd be curious to understand more about how Lindsey Halligan was appointed US attorney in ED VA.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) September 26, 2025
If, as some reports indicate, AG Bondi purported to appoint her pursuant to 28 USC 546, then (on my understanding of the preceding appointments) her appointment might well be invalid.… pic.twitter.com/Sfib8rZu32
So it sure seems that the judge has a simple basis for dismissing the Comey indictment.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) September 26, 2025
