Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted | 9.26.25

Summary

Morning Wire — “Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted”

Date: September 26, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley & Georgia Howe
Key Contributors: Tim Pierce, Jenny Terre, Amanda Prestigiacomo

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around the stunning federal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, explores its roots in the aftermath of the Trump–Russia probe, provides updates on violent crime trends (including an anti-ICE terror attack in Dallas and California’s escalating smash-and-grab robberies), and examines political fallout—particularly Governor Gavin Newsom’s stance on federal law enforcement. The Morning Wire team delivers critical reporting on political accountability, law enforcement, and public safety.

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Major Segments & Discussion Points

1. James Comey Indictment: Context and Charges

[02:17–06:27]

• Details of the Indictment

  • Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
  • The heart of the charges centers on Comey’s 2020 congressional testimony regarding his authorization of leaks relating to the Trump and Clinton investigations.

• Key Allegations

  • The prosecution focuses on testimony before Senator Ted Cruz in which Comey denied leaking information or authorizing others at the FBI to serve as anonymous sources.
    • Sen. Ted Cruz [02:55]:
      “He [McCabe] has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information ... and that you [Comey] were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it. ... One or the other is false. Who's telling the truth?”
    • James Comey [03:53]:
      “I can only speak to my testimony. ... I stand by... what I gave in May of 2017.”

• Immediate Reactions

  • Comey responds with defiance:
    • James Comey [04:40]:
      "We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. ... Fear is the tool of a tyrant. And she’s right. But I’m not afraid, and I hope you’re not either."
  • Trump reacts by calling Comey “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to” and claims Comey is “now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our nation.” ([05:18])
  • Attorney General Pam Bondi says the indictment signals accountability: “...No one is above the law, and the charges are about holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people.”
  • FBI Director Cash Patel calls for renewed trust through leadership accountability.

• Timing Factors

  • The statute of limitations for lying to Congress (5 years) was set to expire, prompting swift DOJ action.
    Tim Pierce [06:02]:
    “In another few days, Comey would have been out of a prosecutor’s reach. ... The Justice Department had about as difficult a time deciding whether to bring these charges as the lateness of them would suggest.”

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2. Dallas Anti-ICE Terror Attack

[07:27–11:50]

• Incident Overview

  • Shooter Joshua John attacked an ICE facility, tragically killing one detainee and injuring two others before committing suicide.
  • Authorities found notes detailing John’s motives—to terrorize ICE agents while avoiding harm to detainees.

• Motive & Method

  • Acting U.S. Attorney [08:29]:
    • “He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking. And this ... is the very definition of terrorism.”
  • ICE official Marcos Charles lauds agents' heroism during the attack and highlights the dangers posed by apps that publicly expose ICE officer locations.
    • Marcos Charles [11:08]:
      “Anyone who creates or distributes these apps ... [is] well aware of the dangers ... It’s no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target ... exactly what we saw happen in Dallas yesterday.”

• Connection to Tech & Media

  • The shooter used online apps to track ICE activity, and law enforcement blames both the creators and the media for amplifying threats to officers’ safety.

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3. California Smash-and-Grab Crime Wave & Political Fallout

[11:54–16:09]

• Crime Surge Details

  • California, especially the Bay Area, sees a spike in mob-style robberies targeting jewelry stores—30 incidents since March and millions in losses.
  • Scott Guginski (Jewelers Security Alliance) [13:57]:
    “This is something I haven’t seen in my 30 plus years of investigating jewelry crime with the NYPD.”

• Victim Statements

  • Family friend of an 88-year-old victim [13:25]:
    “He is okay. Business is not, not okay. ... Every business is in danger.”

• Political Reactions

  • Trump spotlights Oakland and Los Angeles as epicenters of failed crime policies, while Gavin Newsom maintains crime is “under control.”
  • Newsom pivots from local crime issues to harsh rhetoric against federal law enforcement—particularly ICE—appearing on Stephen Colbert’s show and drawing parallels to authoritarian overreach.
    • Newsom [14:56]:
      “No oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today. ... Authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”

• Newsom’s New Law & ICE Backlash

  • Newsom signs a law banning ICE agents from masking their identities during arrests; agents and DHS officials condemn it as a threat to officer safety.
  • DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin [15:19]:
    Describes the law as “despicable” and endangering federal officers.
  • ICE sources assert agents will continue masking as needed and accuse Newsom of stirring political conflict.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• James Comey [04:40]:
  “We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either. ... Fear is the tool of a tyrant. ... I hope you're not afraid.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz [02:55]:
  "What Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who's telling the truth?"
• John Bickley [11:08, paraphrasing ICE official]:
  "It’s no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target ... exactly what we saw happen in Dallas yesterday."
• Scott Guginski [13:57]:
  “This is something I haven’t seen in my 30 plus years of investigating jewelry crime with the NYPD.”
• Newsom [14:56]:
  “Authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• James Comey indictment, testimony, and response: [02:17–06:27]
• ICE Dallas shooting report: [07:27–11:50]
• California smash-and-grab crime wave & Newsom comments: [11:54–16:09]

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a brisk, no-nonsense tone, blending direct quotes from politicians and officials with fact-based, pointed analysis by the Daily Wire team. The style is urgent and skeptical, especially regarding establishment figures and crime policy.

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Summary

This Morning Wire episode delivers an in-depth overview of the historic indictment of James Comey, illustrating the continuing fallout from the Trump–Russia investigation. It highlights both the legal and political implications, features Comey and Trump’s dramatic statements, and situates the story amid broader concerns over violent crime and contentious law enforcement policy. With key expert voices, memorable moments, and rapid-fire news reporting, listeners are equipped to understand both the stakes and the context of these headline-making stories.

Transcript

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[Host/Anchor]

James Comey, the FBI director fired by Trump during his first term, is now facing charges from a grand jury.

[James Comey]

I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I'm innocent. So let's have a trial.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, September 26th. This is Morning Wire. The FBI releases more information on the Dallas anti ice gunman saying he wanted to unleash real terror against the agency.

[Host/Anchor]

FBI agents executed a search warrant at the sniper's residence yesterday and there found a collection of notes and video of another shocking smash and grab in California goes viral. But Gavin Newsom says the real threat to his state is federal agents.

[James Comey]

That's happening in the United States of America. Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing. No due process.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with MORNING Wires. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

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[Host/Anchor]

America.org Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted last night on charges related to his handling of the Trump Russia investigation. Here to talk about Comey's indictment is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. So, Tim, there were rumors that this could happen, but still it sent shockwaves when the indictment was actually unsealed. What is Comey being accused of right now?

[Tim Pierce]

He's been indicted on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The alleged false statements came out of a Sept. 30, 2020, congressional hearing. According to the indictment, this appears to be the moment that prosecutors zeroed in on between Comey and Senator ted Cruz.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

On May 3, 2017, in this committee, Chairman Grassley asked you point blank, quote, have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation, of the Clinton investigation? You responded under oath, quote, never. He then asked you, quote, have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton administration? You responded again under oath, no. Now, as you know, Mr. McCabe, who works for you, has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it. Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who's telling the truth?

[James Comey]

I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by what the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So your testimony is you've never authorized anyone to leak, and Mr. McCabe, if he says contrary, is not telling the truth. Is that correct?

[James Comey]

Again, I'm not going to characterize Andy's testimony, but mine is the same today.

[Tim Pierce]

Comey is expected to surrender for arrest later today. The charges are part of the saga and fallout from the 2016 Russia collusion hoax that lasted for years, spurred multiple special counsels, and really hobbled Trump's first term. That episode, and the lack of accountability from the president's view, has been a major irritant to Trump. Comey is now the first former senior administration official to face charges over it.

[Host/Anchor]

Now, has Comey responded to these charges yet?

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, he put out a video statement last night. Here's part of it.

[James Comey]

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. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant. And she's right. But I'm not afraid, and I hope you're not either. I hope instead you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it, which it does.

[Host/Anchor]

What about President Trump? Has he talked about it yet?

[Tim Pierce]

Before the charges came out, Trump essentially said that Comey is a bad guy, but that he hasn't been involved in any prosecutorial decisions about the former FBI director. After the indictment dropped, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Comey is, quote, one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to. He added that Comey is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our nation. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that no one is above the law and that the charges are about holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. FBI Director Cash Patel echoed those sentiments in his own statement and added that corrupt leadership has damaged the reputation of the FBI and that accountability is needed to repair that trust.

[Host/Anchor]

Now why are these charges coming now?

[Tim Pierce]

Well, the statute of limitations for lying to Congress is five years, and these statements were made on September 30, 2020. So in another few days, Comey would have been out of a prosecutor's reach, at least on these particular charges. And according to reports, the Justice Department had about as difficult a time deciding whether to bring these charges as the lateness of them would suggest.

[Host/Anchor]

Well, it was enough for a grand jury, but we'll have to see if these charges stand in court. Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Tim Pierce]

Good to be on.

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[John Bickley]

We're continuing to learn more about what motivated a shooter to open fire on an ICE facility in Dallas Wednesday morning.

[Host/Anchor]

Daily Wire Immigration reporter Jenny Terre has the latest. So Jenny, we've learned a lot over the last 24 hours or so. What are authorities saying the motive was for this shooter?

[Jenny Terre]

Right. So federal authorities on Thursday held a press conference in Dallas, where they revealed that the shooter, Joshua John, had left behind a trail of notes that revealed some eerie messages about his attack and what he had planned for authorities after the attack. And it appears that he also had planned to commit suicide, which he did in the attack. But these notes left some details about what his motives are. Those motives include wanting to shoot ICE agents in the attack. He wanted to inflict terror on them, he said in those notes. And he did not want the collateral damage of shooting or injuring any illegal immigrant detainees, which, of course, we know ended up happening. Here's the acting US Attorney on this.

[Host/Anchor]

The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the Sally Port. He also hoped his actions would give ICE agents real terror of being gunned down. And he did this to induce constant stress in their lives. He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking. And this, what he did, is the very definition of terrorism.

[Jenny Terre]

Authorities also said during that press conference that they believe that he acted alone and left a message indicating just that on one of the notes. They also said that his plans were months in the making.

[Host/Anchor]

Do we have any information about what the agents and those detainees were doing at the time of that shooting?

[Jenny Terre]

Right, so this is something that just came out on Thursday in that press conference. You had ICE official Marcos Charles, who came out and said that these agents were heroic in their efforts while bullets were being sprayed in their direction. They were actually working to see save those ICE detainees that they had just arrested, that they were transporting from vans into the ICE facility. They were spending their time risking their lives in that moment, which he said really reveals what ICE agents are all about, that they're about protecting everyone, that they're about putting their lives on the line to do so. And he said that these individuals who are wanting to vilify and attack ICE are really not realizing what they're doing, not realizing what ICE is all about, that they're protecting, even them, protecting their safety. He also talked about these applications that have been created to expose ice, to show their whereabouts and their locations in the United States as they operate and make arrests as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation effort. And he said that those individuals are really to blame for attacks like these, because in this instance, you had Joshua John using these apps before the shooting. They had detected that he was making searches on those apps. He was also searching online things like looking for the Charlie Kirk Shooting video and similar instances of attacks and the locations of ICE facilities across the country. He really spent a lot of time online trying to find out more about how he could inflict harm on ICE agents. And Charles spoke to this issue of these apps and these efforts to dox agents during the press conference. Here he is talking more about that.

[John Bickley]

Anyone who creates or distributes these apps that is designed to spot, track and locate ICE officers are well aware of the dangers that they are exposing to law enforcement. It's a casting call to invite bad actors to attack law enforcement officers. It's no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target. And this is exactly what we saw happen in Dallas yesterday. The media has been amplifying these apps even as we warned them it would only lead to more attacks on law enforcement. We truly wish we didn't have to say I told you so, but here we are.

[Host/Anchor]

Well, that's exactly what some authorities were warning about with these apps, that things like this could happen. Jenny, thanks for reporting.

[Jenny Terre]

Thank you.

[Host/Anchor]

A string of violent smash and grab robbery schemes in California is drawing renewed attention to the state's crime issues. Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom is ratcheting up language against federal law enforcement.

[John Bickley]

Here are the details Is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. Hey, Amanda. So we're seeing more of these really alarming mob style robberies out of California, specifically the Bay Area, seems to be particularly bad. First, how bad is this problem? How often is this actually happening?

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

Well, one expert said that there have been 30 of these violent mob style robberies in Cali just since March. And these are just the ones affecting jewelry stores specifically. And we're talking about millions of dollars worth of merchandise being stolen. And oftentimes the suspects involved are juveniles. Just this past week, an armed gang of up to 30 people raided a jewelry store outside of San Francisco. They smashed cases with crowbars and pickaxes and they stole around $1 million worth of goods Due to new security measures that were implemented after a 2023 robbery. The suspects were locked inside. However, they used guns and they shot their way out of the store. Authorities so far have arrested seven suspects. They're all from Oakland and they range in age from 17 to 31. Law enforcement believes that these are repeat offenders. Now, two similar robberies took place within just the past few weeks. One of them was at a Bay Area shop called Kim Hong Jewelry. In this case, a car crashed through the store and more than a dozen robbers smashed display cases and they stole merchandise. The 88 year old store owner was shoved to the ground. He suffered a stroke and was cut by broken glass. A family friend of the Victim talked to ABC7. Here's a direct quote. He is okay. Business is not, not okay. Everyone knows the situation right now. Every business is in danger. Scott Guginski, who's the VP of Jewelers Security alliance, he spoke to ABC7 about this trend and he said he's never seen this level of violence.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Since March, we've had 30 violent robberies in California targeting jewelry stores.

[Tim Pierce]

This is something I haven't seen in.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

My 30 plus years of investigating jewelry crime with the NYPD.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

As we've covered here, President Trump is really determined to lower crime rates, particularly in some of these Democrat run cities. He's specifically cited Los Angeles and Oakland. Just last month, actually, the US News and World Report ranked Oakland as the second most dangerous city in the nation, only second to Memphis, another city that's been cited by Trump. Those rankings are based on FBI crime rates, specifically murder and property crime for every 100,000 people. California's Governor Gavin Newsom, however, he's pushed back on this and he claims that California news crime is under control and it's not an issue.

[John Bickley]

Right. I mean, while Newsom is really focusing on federal authorities, particularly immigration authorities, what have we seen from the governor on that front?

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

Yeah, we've seen a lot actually. On Tuesday, Newsom generated a lot of criticism for how he described ICE agents during an appearance on Stephen Colbert's left wing late night show.

[James Comey]

No oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today. People ask, well, is authoritarianism. You're being hyperbolic. We're being hyperbolic. If you're a black and brown community.

[Jenny Terre]

It'S here in this country.

[James Comey]

I mean, if some guy jumped out of an unmarked car in a van with a mask on, tried to grab me, I mean, by definition you're going to push back these authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

Additionally, just this past weekend, Newsom signed a law that bans ICE agents from wearing masks while they make arrests. They do this currently to protect their identities. Due to increased threats and violence against ICE agents, assaults on ICE agents actually have jumped 830% compared to just a year ago. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, she called this new law despicable in a flagrant attempt to endanger federal officers. Agency sources have actually talked to the Daily Wire about this and they say that that new law is not going to stop agents from masking while they make arrests. One source said, quote, nice try by Newsom, but He knows it doesn't apply to federal agents. He loves stirring the pot so that people find more ways to bring conflict to ice.

[John Bickley]

Well, that law is getting even more attention now with this deadly targeting of ICE in Dallas, as Jenny just reported on. Amanda, thank you so much for reporting.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

You're welcome.

[Host/Anchor]

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.