← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
James Comey pleads not guilty in federal court in political prosecution. Our coverage with Glenn Kirschner, Olivia Troye, and Miles Taylor.
02:13:37
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- [00:02]
A
You were asked, did career prosecutors find insufficient evidence to charge James Comey? You refused to answer that question.
- [00:16]
B
All right, you're watching live coverage of the Comey arraignment. The arraignment, former FBI Director James Comey. He is going to be appearing live at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, at any moment now. And just to give you a little bit of a backstory on what we're going to be seeing. And there's Miles Taylor. Miles Taylor, Olivia Troy also joining us for this live coverage, live here on substack and YouTube. Guys, great to see you this morning. Really appreciate you being there.
- [00:45]
C
Yeah, great to be with you, Jim.
- [00:47]
D
Hey, Jim.
- [00:48]
B
Hey, Olivia. Show us what. What's happening behind you. You're waiting for Comey. He has not arrived.
- [00:53]
E
There are protesters.
- [00:55]
D
Yes. There are people here standing up for democracy. We've got resistors here who have signs, no kings. You'll see this. Really grateful that they're out here supporting. It is a rainy day, I'll say that. So there was a little bit of a downpour earlier. And then you've got media set up. It looks like someone's arriving right now. Can you see that?
- [01:17]
B
I can see that, yeah. Do you think that could be him? Well, I guess we'll wait and see. And one of the things we should let our viewers know and Miles, I'll go to you in just a second is there was some question as to whether there would be a, quote, perk walk of James Coby. Of course, this is a targeted prosecution of the former FBI director Todd Blanche. The deputy attorney general says there will not be a perp walk per se, this morning. What we do expect, Miles, I guess we don't know until we see it, is that Comey will just arrive at the courthouse, go into the courtroom for his arraignment hearing. Well, he'll be read the charges formally.
- [01:52]
C
Well, that's what we're expecting, Jim. And you know, talking to folks here, it sounds like that normally someone would be brought into the secure entrance of the courthouse so they could avoid being mobbed by the public, so they could avoid being mobbed by the media. But the expectation right now is that they're going to make him roll up out front here at the courthouse. They're going to make him walk in like any other person coming in, despite the fact that surely the former FBI director has security threats against him like many of us do in this space, and they're going to try to make him, you know, look like any other citizen coming in here, even though Jim, the important thing to recognize here is that this isn't like any other arraignment. This isn't like any other indictment. This is something that began not with the facts and circumstances, but with this entire case began with the President of the United States expressing a desire to lock up one of his political opponents. In fact, I would say, Jim, probably if you ask Donald Trump right now what James Comey is being arraigned for, he couldn't answer the question because he doesn't know what the facts and circumstances are because they don't matter to him. What matters to him is that today people see the former FBI director walking into court and hopefully they see a mugshot at some point. That's what he cares about.
- [03:15]
D
About.
- [03:15]
B
Exactly. And Olivia, I would not be surprised if Donald Trump is watching the coverage. I mean, maybe he's not watching this coverage. I'm not his favorite outlet, but you and me both. But, yeah, all of us, Miles included. But, but Olivia, tell us. I mean, to me, this is a very big moment in America. And Miles may agree with this too, and that we are seeing, I guess this is the first political targeted prosecution that Donald Trump has unleashed on the American people. And the person he is doing this to first, his test case is James Comey. And Pam, Bonnie was asked about this yesterday. She was asked, were you in on this? And so on. And did Donald Trump tell you to do this? She wouldn't answer the question, but that's basically what we're about to see.
- [04:03]
D
Yeah, I think. And you know, I think that was important. That is actually why I'm here. And I will say it takes on a different layer, a double layer. I would say it is incredibly trying to be here because Alexandria is my home. And so I see a lot of the local residents here and just understanding that this is happening in my backyard and that this is a first. And this is something that I warned about whether, you know, if Trump returned to office, I knew that this would be a campaign retribution. We knew it would be revenge. Both Miles and I have talked about that very openly. And you know, just a reminder, I mean, the day is 10. Tomorrow could be any one of us. And given the executive orders that have been passed recently, given the memorandum on basically calling dissent a form of terrorism, the antifa executive order, I think these are all pieces and blocks of what makes these moments so dangerous. And so while people may have political differences or it may have opinions on James Comey or have opinions on people like Miles Taylor, who's the topic of executive order or myself or, or you or people in the media. The point is this is not normal. We are in a functioning democracy for now. And this today is a significant moment in showing how the rule of law is at risk here. And we're showing basically the Department of Justice be the right arm of the White House. And honestly, yeah, that Pam Bondi testimony yesterday was unbelievable to watch because of her demeanor and her lack of decorum and just for smugness the entire time. Yeah, we've not seen that.
- [05:50]
B
They, they believe they're not accountable to the people. They believe they're not accountable to the other branches of government. Miles Taylor, I'll go back to you. And then looks like Glenn Kirschner has joined us as well. Glenn, great to see you as well. I know everybody's holding their phones, so I'm going to be very, you know, I'm going to try to just leave you guys to the talking here. But, Miles, your thoughts, because Olivia just mentioned you your thoughts on just how important this moment is right now, how disturbing this moment is.
- [06:16]
C
Well, look, obviously, Jim, you know, I care a great deal about how James Comey conducts himself, about how this proceeds, because we are in the crosshairs. My family is in the crosshairs. Donald Trump has accused me falsely of treason, the highest crime envisioned by the Constitution, a crime punishable by death in the United States and without any evidence. And, you know, I think there's a question to be asked here, GM if the president of the United States accuses someone of treason, which is tantamount to accusing them of murder, then why on earth am I walking free right now? Why am I walking free in front of this courthouse? And I mean that very seriously. If I am guilty of treason, why am I here outside? Why am I not in handcuffs and in prison if I've engaged in treason against the United States of America? And I'll tell you the answer is because his aides haven't yet been able to find facts that fit that narrative, they haven't been able to hunt down evidence that fits that crime. Now, I don't say that for my sake. I say that because the American people should realize the president of the United States, not just with James Comey, not just with me, but with a whole host of other characters, is saying these people are guilty of crimes, and then telling his people, well, by the way, go find crimes that they are guilty of. That's not how the justice system works. That's the inverse of the justice system. So I think what we're going to see today is historic in the sense that we've now crossed that Rubicon, that the President of the United States, regardless of political party, is now able to sign investigations into existence with the stroke of a pen and coerce indictments with social media posts. That is what has happened here. And you cannot overstate the significance. This isn't just something that affects James Comey or Miles Taylor or John Bolton or others. This affects the rights of all Americans. If you care about the Bill of Rights and don't want to see it torched, then this is a case you need to be paying attention to.
- [08:12]
B
Absolutely. And Glenn Kirschner joins us as part of this live coverage of the Comey arraignment. And Glenn, before you jumped on, I mean, I describe this as what I think it is. This is a targeted prosecution of the force. Former FBI Director. But your thoughts, because this is a very big and disturbing moment down there at the courthouse.
- [08:29]
E
Yeah, Jim, on the one hand, this is a very dark day for our nation because this is the first president sanctions vindictive prosecution, I want to say, in our nation's history. I hope, though, that there's a point of light that will break through the Trump induced darkness as a result of this prosecution. And that is, I am anxiously awaiting to see what James Comey's legal defense team says at today's arraignment. Arraignments are typically 5 to 10 minute affairs where you read the defendant the indictment unless he or she waives reading of the indictment. So they're on notice of what they will need to defend against. The defendant enters a plea, they talk about the next court hearing that will be scheduled. Maybe they set emotions schedule, they set some deadlines, they talk about conditions of release, if that's appropriate. I don't think they'll need to talk about things like pretrial detention, because I can't imagine even a Trump administration would claim that James Comey is a flight risk or a danger to the community. But we'll see. But here's why I hope this will, you know, be written in the history books as a point of light. I don't believe Donald Trump and his US Attorney, whatever assistant US Attorneys have decided to sign up for this legal suicide mission, they will not succeed. I do not believe they will succeed. What that will do if this case is exposed for the vindictive, you know, horrific violation of James Comey's constitutional rights that it appears to be. I think what that will do is expose that Donald Trump is a paper tiger, at least in as much as he is forever threatening to prosecute his foes. Right. Go back 10 years. Lock her up. Lock her up. I'm going to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton hasn't been indicted for so much as a traffic ticket. Right. If this goes down in flames, this prosecution, and as a career prosecutor, I suspect it will, that will expose that. Donald Trump's threats to prosecute everybody, including my friend Miles Taylor, are hollow. He can't follow through because the federal judiciary will not allow it. So I hope history records this as a potential turning point in where we are in this tyrannical Trump administration.
- [10:52]
C
Well, Jim, can I throw in one thing here that I think it's important for people to realize? There is a deep irony here. There are many ironies in this situation, but one of the deep ironies is that what they have accused James Comey of doing is they've effectively accused him of authorizing a leak to the media about a sensitive FBI investigation and then allegedly pressuring someone to lie about it. Well, we have seen already from this administration leaks about a sensitive FBI investigation, the investigation into James Comey. The Trump administration is doing basically the underlying thing that they are accusing the FBI director of doing. And people are evading notice here. It's not like James Comey is being accused of murder. It's not like James Comey is being accused of tax fraud. He's being accused of not even himself leaking to the press, but hypothetically authorizing or knowing about leaks to the media about FBI investigations, and this administration is leaking about his. You cannot overstate that. And I think it's also one of the reasons why you saw the Attorney general a little bit nervous testifying before Congress yesterday when James Comey was brought up, is because that's exactly what they're trying to do, is say that James Comey didn't tell the truth during congressional testimony. And I wish someone had asked her. Madam Attorney General, have you or your team spoken to the media about the Comey investigation? Because it's very clear that some of them, quoted as senior officials in the media, have been talking about this investigation to the press.
- [12:36]
B
Yeah, I remember covering the first Trump administration. They leaked like a sieve. They all leaked on each other, on everything.
- [12:43]
D
Jim. I watched them firsthand leak. I watched them sitting there coordinating. I was coordinate hit jobs on each other, to be clear. But also, if you want to talk about lying before testimony, I mean, the elephant in the room is Cash Patel. I attended that confirmation hearing with Judge William Webster at the time, and all of the things that he denied during that hearing in front of the Senate, he has actually done. Right, the targeted firings of FBI agents, the misuse of the bureau. I mean, the cleaning house, all the things that he said he wouldn't do, he has done.
- [13:27]
B
Yeah, no, it's true. And if folks are watching and they want to send up their comments, we'll put them on screen. And Glenn Kirschner, I mean, we're in the United States of America and we like to think of other countries as having kangaroo courtrooms. And I know you are a former federal prosecutor and the justice system is near and dear to your heart, but this is, for all intents and purposes, a kangaroo court. Even the judge may not be a person who runs a kangaroo court, but that's kind of what this has become because of Donald Trump and this political prosecution. Is there any chance the judge this morning could just say, you know what, I'm throwing this out right now, or is that a little too made for tv? Will he let the process go a couple of steps before potentially doing that?
- [14:07]
E
Yeah, from your lips, Jim. I don't think that's going to happen. But, but here's, I think, an interesting challenge that the judge is going to have. I think one of the marquee issues will be did Lindsey Halligan, Donald Trump's recently installed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, former insurance lawyer, no experience as a prosecutor. Did Lindsey Halligan lawfully hold the position when she walked into the grand jury room that day and urged them to vote out a two count indictment against James Comey? The challenge for the judge will be if she was not lawfully appointed, then this indictment is null and void. And I would analogize, Jim, to when we have questions about whether a defendant has immunity that should prohibit, preclude a criminal prosecution. Judges will turn to that first, because if you truly have immunity, you should not have a criminal charge hanging over your head because you're not susceptible to prosecution. Similarly, if you have an unlawful indictment returned against you, you should not have a prosecution hanging over your head. So that issue may make an appearance. I'm keenly interested to see what James Comey's defense team chooses to raise today at this very early stage of the case. But it may be that it may be vindictive prosecution. You know, when I saw this indictment handed down, I was tempted to call the date of death of the rule of law. But I think it's premature because what we know is that the good career prosecutors, including A Trump appointed U.S. attorney, Eric Siebert, looked at this case and said, we don't have it. We will not charge. Just like a prosecutor looking at Letitia James, you know, potential vindictive prosecution that Trump has been insisting on. Apparently, according to the reporting, she that the AUSA handling that case, Elizabeth, you see, just said we don't even have probable cause to indict Letitia James, never mind a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That's DOJ standard to ask a grand jury to indict. The rule of law is not dead. It is not quite hanging by a thread. It is in the game and it is fighting through the good men and women who are still at the Department of Justice. And I don't think Donald Trump is going to be able to fire his way through all of the ethical tens of thousands of ethical DOJ prosecutors and get what he wants, which is vindictive evidence, free revenge fueled indictments. I don't think he's going to succeed.
- [16:45]
B
Yeah. And I'm curious, Glenn, who's going to be arguing the case in front of the judge? Will it be Lindsey Halligan, former insurance lawyer? I don't believe she has any prosecutorial experience. Apparently when she showed up at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, it may have been her first time or something close to that. I saw her doing a live interview the other day. I saw a recording of that where she just didn't even seem to know what she was saying. So she seems to be way out of her depth. And so the judge is not going to have any patience for that.
- [17:16]
E
So what I've heard, and I want to attribute this to two of my friends, it's nice catching up with everybody being back at the courthouse here. Roger Parler and Anna Bauer, two wonderful reporters. They said they checked the docket and there are two prosecutors, assistant U.S. attorneys who've entered appearances in the case from a North Carolina U.S. attorney's office. I would be surprised if Lindsey Halligan actually was the one arguing to the judge today because that might inspire some questions from the bench that she's not interested in answering or prepared to answer. And it might be one of these other two sort of newly added AUSA federal prosecutors. But we will know literally within a matter of minutes.
- [18:00]
B
And Olivia, you're there outside the courthouse. I guess we're all waiting to see if the former FBI director shows up. I guess we don't know if he's going to come in through the front door. I assume if they're giving Comey the opportunity to do that, he's going to want to do that, I would think. I don't know. We don't know.
- [18:17]
D
Yeah. The assumption is that he is coming into the front. I. We've got media gathered here. I just did a scan of the crowd. You know what's striking to me, Jim? I would think that there would be more security. There is, you know, Alexander pd, who I'm, you know, very close to, and I think very highly of the hard work that they do, but I'm a little bit. I thought there would be more.
- [18:44]
B
Yeah, I know. It's. It's so true.
- [18:47]
C
But, I mean, especially with a figure.
- [18:49]
D
Like Jay's company, which I can only imagine the threats and harassment that he's getting, like we all do.
- [18:55]
B
And you can see the signs on Miles's camera. He's showing us this live. And thanks to all. I owe all of you a big steak dinner for doing all of this. But Miles is showing the. The. The signs that say trumped up charges and so on. And I know, Olivia, you've been doing that too well.
- [19:11]
C
And, Jim, I am here with some folks who are here to protest today, and. And I wanted to be able to jump in and ask them some questions. I just want to ask you all, what does this moment mean to you today? I mean, we have a former director of the FBI who's presumably going to walk in here any moment into this courthouse. What should regular Americans be thinking about this moment?
- [19:36]
D
Wake up. It's. It's that the time has passed to express our. We. We won't stand for the rule of law to be destroyed in the United States. And we care about our Federal Republic. We care about our liberal democracy. If we don't defend it now when it's getting to the point where it's opposed to being too late.
- [19:57]
C
Yeah, well, it was a. It was supposed to be a rainy day and thunderstorms today, and yet you all are here, even with umbrellas prepared. I want to ask. I mean, this is a moment where people are very scared to speak up, but you all are not scared to be here. Tell me why and what lesson should people take from that as. As we go into the coming months?
- [20:18]
D
The thing that means the most to me is when they. When I heard that fear is contagious, but so is courage. And frankly, Miles, you are extremely courageous in numerous ways. And it's seeing these people who get out here and who are actually willing to stand up, take a stand, stop this tyranny, because it's really scary. And if people think they're not going to end up. They and their loved ones are not going to end up in jail or persecuted. I beg to differ. And now is the time we have to pull together. So, October 18th.
- [20:54]
C
October 18th. I mean, Jim, you heard it here. Courage is contagious is the reason that folks have shown up today outside the courthouse in the wake of what happened to Charlie Kirk. In the wake of the violence that the president appears to be trying to incite in places like Portland and Chicago, people are still coming out and protesting in defiance of that. And of course, as one of the protesters here mentioned October 18, in a few weeks, we are likely to see one of the biggest nationwide protests in recent history in opposition to some of these revenge actions, like the prosecution of James Comey today.
- [21:36]
B
Yeah, I mean, I was just totally blown away by what that nice lady just said to you, Miles. People get it. And, you know, so many times, Glenn, we show the people outside the courthouse holding the signs and so on. When I say we, we in the media, and we're an independent media now, but I guess corporate media, and we never listen to them and listen to what they have to say. People get this. People get what's happening right now. I think that's so encouraging.
- [22:03]
E
You know, they get it, and, you know, they are standing up, they're speaking out, they're staying strong, they're marching, they're rallying, they're protesting. We've got another one coming up. October 18th, the next no Kings Day rally. And, you know, I've been saying for a while now, Jim, that saving American democracy is not going to be accomplished by any one person, one judge, one prosecutor, one politician. I think if the politicians who are in it for the right reasons could have saved us, they would have saved us by now. It's up to us. It's always been up to us. It will always be up to us. And like Miles and like Olivia and like you, I'm heartened by the people who come out here, and they're like, this is wrong, and we're going to stand up and we're going to speak out. And I think more and more and more of the American people need to do that. And that is how you put a stop to attempted dictatorial rule.
- [22:54]
B
Yeah. Olivia, your thoughts? I mean, we're still waiting for Comey to show up, but, I mean, to me, the fact that that lady said that to Miles just. I'm gonna be thinking about that all day. That, you know, people get this. People are just really. They're disturbed, but they're starting to show some Resolve is what it says to me, too.
- [23:17]
D
Well, and I think. And this is exactly why it's important to show up.
- [23:22]
B
Yeah.
- [23:22]
D
Because you show up and you show up for each other and you stand with each other, and the hope is that you encourage others going forward to show up as well and to keep showing up.
- [23:34]
B
Definitely. Yeah. People are getting their game face on, Miles, is the message I'm hearing.
- [23:39]
D
Yeah.
- [23:40]
B
And I guess we're waiting. Go ahead.
- [23:42]
C
Oh, I was going to say. I think that's right, Jim, and I was just going to show you. I mean, the question right now, as I mentioned at the top end, is whether the former FBI director is going to arrive here from the side, down the secure entrance, or towards the front here. And one other thing that I've been told, and I can give you a sight of this here in a minute, is that they have set up a podium for the former FBI director. We don't know if he is planning on making remarks before or after the arraignment. I would suspect he's not going to before the arraignment, but there is a podium over here that they've gotten set up so that he could potentially make remarks afterwards. Now, here is my supposition. I'm going to guess here that Comey does say something on the way out, and here's why. I think he will. And I may be wrong about this, but if I know James Comey and his character and his background, he is going to want to use every opportunity to be.
- [24:55]
B
Oh, we just lost Miles. But I think I. I understood what Miles was saying. If he comes back in, his audio comes back in. Olivia, finish that sentence. Oh, go ahead, keep going.
- [25:03]
C
Broke up for a second. I think he's going to want to use every opportunity, Jim, to be able to use this process of being indicted, to turn the mirror onto the Trump administration and to expose the corruption that allowed this to happen in the first place. So I would suspect that afterwards we see Comey walk out of the building here, walk to the sticks, as they call them, and make some remarks to the media and to the American people about what has just happened. But we'll see here soon.
- [25:35]
B
Yeah, I mean, and Olivia, I'm noticing from Miles's camera or one of our cameras there, that the crowd is growing, it's getting bigger.
- [25:41]
D
I was about to tell you that I was just kind of running the footage on that, and there is. There's more people showing up. And you know what? Kudos to you, Jim. Kudos to Miles. You've inspired corporate Media to actually turn around and actually talk to the protesters and capture them. That happened after we were talking to them. So hopefully we are bringing attention to the people who are actually, you know, taking a stand, having the courage to stand here, because I know that in a moment there's a lot of fear. But I think that hopefully that's a testament that we are not going to let them steamroll our democracy, as I often say.
- [26:24]
B
Yeah, yeah. We don't take commercial breaks here on independent media. We're not. We don't have to do that. Maybe to rest your arms a little bit. Glenn Kirschner, are you still with us? I know you want to get back in at some point. Do you want to have any final thoughts before you go back inside? We lost Glenn.
- [26:41]
E
Okay.
- [26:41]
B
We lost Glenn. Okay. Maybe Glenn's gone back inside. Glenn was texting me very early this morning. I think it might have been before I opened my eyes to say he was going to be down there. And Glenn wanted to be inside to see it for himself, which I think is. Is absolutely terrific. And, Olivia, I don't see him out.
- [26:58]
D
Here, so I think he's back inside.
- [27:00]
B
He's back inside.
- [27:02]
E
Yeah.
- [27:02]
B
Thanks to the great Glenn Kirschner. But, Olivia, I mean, I think what you just said there sums it up. I mean, you know, this is not. James Comey is not showing up at the courthouse in Alexandria for any other reason other than Donald Trump hates his guts. And Donald Trump sees James Comey as his political enemy. But you. We're all old enough to remember. I was out there on the campaign trail with Donald Trump the day the Comey letter came out, 11 days before the 2016 election. I will keep reminding people of this. And the Trump people thought they had won the super bowl because it totally changed the complexion of that campaign. It put some wind at their backs and helped. I think it helped him win the election in 2016.
- [27:48]
D
I think we all remember Comey as my homie. Remember that?
- [27:51]
B
Comey is my homie.
- [27:52]
D
I never forgot that one. Yeah.
- [27:54]
B
And then Trump gets into the White House and he fires James Comey because of. And Trump admits it to NBC Nightly News, says it's because of the Russia thing, because Comey and they were investigating Donald Trump and his campaign's connections to the Russians. That's why he's still pissed at James Comey to this day.
- [28:16]
D
Again, always looking back, right? And like I said, I always want to. I want. I actually, like. I want to sit these people down and be like, you won again. Get over it. Get over it. Actually focus on governing the country. Actually focus on solving problems instead of like these retribution campaigns that, by the way, no one really voted for. Nobody voted for people that voted for and voted on the fact of the price of eggs. Well, guess what, I went to the grocery store. The eggs are pretty damn expensive still. So there's that. And so too, like, they didn't vote for this for focus. I mean, think about this. We are in the middle of a government shutdown. There's these memos running around OMB with Russ Vote, who controls everything right now saying that there may not be back pay for furloughed federal workers or public servants. We have air traffic control towers shutting down. There's traffic delays happening across the country right now. And yet what is the Trump administration focused on?
- [29:14]
B
This is their idea, government sham prosecution.
- [29:17]
D
Where the media is here, focused on the courthouse like we are. Right. Because this is a historic moment for our country. But the rest of the country is trying to figure out what is about to happen logistically. I mean, you know, and just little basic things. By the way, I just read an article yesterday where people are trying to figure out how to get their marriage license in D.C. because it's shut down. So they're trying to get a workaround so we don't think about little second and third order effects. That may sound ridiculous, but like I just say that because the juxtaposition of what is happening here today, going back on a retribution campaign that extends to an election that won. He won in 2016, he lost in 2020, but you're back in office, so get over it.
- [29:58]
B
Exactly. Actually, they can't get over it. No, I know. And, and when you're saying they should just run the government, they shut down the government and their idea of running the government is to run a show trial and to conduct ICE raids and to send Christie domes to Portland for no goddamn reason.
- [30:16]
D
I mean, people repelling into buildings.
- [30:19]
C
Yeah, well, that, that imagery I think is really powerful for people to see. If they haven't seen this morning the videos coming out of the Secretary of Homeland Security's visit to Portland, Oregon, then they need to scroll through social media and see those videos. And I don't mean videos taken by liberal groups on the ground. I mean the videos of the conservative podcasters who have been assigned to follow the Homeland Security secretary. And there is one from yesterday of Benny Johnson, conservative podcast host, on the roof of the ICE building with the Secretary who is ready to go view war ravaged Portland and the terrorist threat that Stephen Miller has talked about from the left. And you peer over the edge of that building, and there are about eight people standing down there. Half of them are media. One of them is dressed in a chicken suit. It doesn't look like Baghdad. It doesn't look like Afghanistan. It looks like an American city where the administration has created a huge production, Much Ado About Nothing. And that's what we're seeing here. And this goes back, I think, to the really important point, which is that this administration is working very hard to incite violence, to use it as the justification for a further crackdown. And I'll tell you why this is tied to things like the Comey prosecution is because the administration is making it easier to designate the political opposition as terrorists. These are the type of words that I would have scoffed at and written off a decade ago. Yet the legal architecture is being built right now by the White House to be able to designate liberal groups as terrorist organizations and to be able to add Americans to the terrorist watch list for not engaging in acts of terrorism, for engaging in First Amendment protected speech. Two or three weeks ago, the administration released something called NSPM 7, National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. This is the type of thing Olivia and I used to work on and be responsible for writing in the first Trump administration. But this order that went out, NSPM7 is the type of thing that we would have laid our bodies over the train tracks to stop while in government because it is so obviously unconstitutional and lawless. And this order allows the President of the United States to designate any group as a domestic terrorist organization. Which opens the floodgates, Jim, to people who are in that group or associated with that group to be added to the terrorist watch list in the United States. This is probably one of the most sweeping tools that this administration will use to go after the political opposition. And a lot of things have hit the news. It's hard to catch all of it, but I think this has been overlooked by the American people. And two years from now, we will be talking about how NSPM7 and the terrorist designations laid the foundation for future acts of retribution in the years to come during the Trump administration.
- [33:35]
B
Yeah, that's. That is such great perspective, Miles. I totally agree with you. When I saw those. Those pictures from Benny Johnson, whose name I don't like to say because I don't want to promote what he does, but he was there. And, you know, Portland, for anybody who understands that that city is basically, you know, kind of a crunchy granola, kind of, you know, Birkenstocks, we're in sort of town. And it's just completely like a beautiful place. You go outside of Portland, there are all the, you know, wineries of the Willamette Valley. The people inside Portland, they're famous for their craft beer, great food scene, wonderful people. I talked to the Attorney General of Oregon the other day. They had a nude bike ride over the weekend, apparently through downtown Portland. The fact that the Trump administration is trying to turn it into, as you said, Baghdad or Apocalypse now or something like that, it just shows you how detached from reality they are and how detached they're sycophantic propagandists like Benny Johnson are. And Olivia, I mean, that's part of the problem is where I would love to be able to penetrate those information. There's a picture right there, my producer Matt, putting up on screen the world naked bike ride that was planned in Portland. There was some images for our, for our younger viewers. Avert your eyes. There are some pictures. There are some images here you may not be able to see, but look too closely.
- [34:55]
D
But I mean, I also wanted to tell you we've got Trump supporters starting to show up here now, too.
- [35:00]
B
Oh, interesting. Okay, now what, what do we, what do we, what do we see?
- [35:05]
D
It's just, you can tell smallish number, smallish number. Mega hats, not too much, I think resistors out number. But just wanted to flag that for you.
- [35:18]
C
Yeah, well, one thing that I'll note is that you mentioned Portland and I think this is going to become relevant in episodes like what we are seeing today. Because in Portland, one of the things that the opposition is trying to do is to bring humor into the response. And that's interesting because it's an easy way to call out these actions without being so self serious. So as you note, you know, there has been calls for a naked bike ride through Portland. They do this every couple of years. They're now going to launch an emergency naked bike ride to poke fun at the fact that the area is being deemed to be war ravaged. You can't imagine, as you noted, a naked bike ride through Baghdad. If a place is war ravaged, you're not going to take your clothes off and ride a bicycle. But it's going to be acts of protests like that that I think will most easily show for people that the emperor has no clothes.
- [36:23]
B
Yes, yes. And let's not see Donald Trump doing a naked bike ride for.
- [36:27]
D
Yeah, please.
- [36:28]
B
Sake.
- [36:28]
D
I don't, I already have ptsd. I don't need more. But Olivia, thank you for that jarring image.
- [36:33]
B
Jim, I'm Sorry, I know it's early, especially on the west coast for folks who just spit out their cornflakes. But Olivia or cove. The thing that we should. The other thing I want to point out about this courthouse that you're at. I've covered some cases long time ago outside the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. This is a very important district of the U.S. attorney chain, if you want to call it that. And this courthouse in particular has handled a lot of war on terrorism cases. I remember the American Taliban case was tried there. I don't want to say how old I am, but I covered some of those hearings when that was being held there in Alexandria. I mean, so the fact that James Comey, the former director of the FBI, is being indicted and arraigned and tried in that courthouse, to me, tells us where we are as a country right now and that we're not. We're not going after terrorists anymore. We're going after ourselves. We're going after dissidents, we're going after opposition figures, perceived enemies of the president and so on.
- [37:40]
D
Well, and I think that was a point to Miles, point what he mentioned with that memorandum that was written. I think that is the point. It is actually trying to label dissident protest in that vein. And I'm curious, as Miles said, I've worked a lot of those nspms addressing of it. I can tell you that usually it takes months to develop and coordinate across the US Government and across the national security community. And I would love to see paper trail. We might need to do a little FOIA request and see where we could get on that to see how this coordination was done, who actually chopped on it. Because I'm very curious to see if anyone actually saw this document and how it was written. Like Miles said, I don't think that it would withstand the SNF test across the national security community based on what I've seen.
- [38:32]
B
Yeah. And I guess we're still. I guess James Comey, Miles may just show up.
- [38:37]
D
Still waiting.
- [38:38]
B
Yeah. Right before this gets going, huh?
- [38:41]
C
Well, we are. And one thing that I want to note, Jim, that is just really interesting, I mean it speaks to this moment, is as Olivia mentioned, you had MAGA supporters showing up. We have a couple of J6ers that are here right now that are likewise filming this. I just heard a group of them note that they are really excited to be here this moment, really excited to see this happen. And an individual doing a live stream who just said, and emphasizing this word, I am excited for the execution. And then he waited a beat and said of justice. So, you know, you can't overstate the historical significance here that people who rioted and stormed the United States Capitol in an insurrection incited by the President of the United States that was universally condemned at the time are here at this building celebrating the indictment of a former FBI director. And I think it really shows you how far we've come as a country, and what it means when power changes hands is that those individuals are not only, many of them, pardoned and roaming free, they are now here at the arraignment of a former FBI director to spike the football in the end zone, if you will.
- [40:07]
B
Yeah. Olivia, were you just.
- [40:08]
D
I just.
- [40:09]
E
Yeah.
- [40:10]
D
Well, to what Miles pointing to that is Ivan Ragland walking behind me talking to one of the people there. Just, you know, I'm on his list. He does have a retribution list. So I just wanted to point that out, that this is a guy who has an entire list of people. I'm one of the people on there. I believe Miles is on there, and numerous other people are on his list. This is a guy who showed up at the Cash Patel hearing. This is the same person who showed up behind me when I was testifying before Congress on actual social media. And what was happening there, remember when that Jim Jordan had that weaponization of the. Of the government, a federal government committee. This is a person who sat behind me for me, and this is the person who supported Cash Patel in his theories. And so that's who these individuals are that are here today in support of this whole situation. So I thought I'd show that to you. He's right behind me there. Right there.
- [41:01]
B
Well, to think that the January six people. I mean, first of all, I'm just going to say it, and nobody can be held accountable for this but me. There are a bunch of thugs and criminals, criminals who beat up cops on January 6th. And to compare what they did to this country to James Comey is a joke. There is. There is no comparison whatsoever. And they. They were locked up because they committed crimes against our country. They try. They attacked our democracy. They tried to overturn an election through violence. And they were. They were justifiably prosecuted and thrown in jail. And they're only out of jail, many of them, because of Donald Trump pardoning January 6th thugs, goons and criminals. And so these January 6th people who are showing up in different places and acting like they were former political prisoners and so on. Get real. Get over yourselves. You're only free because of Donald Trump having sympathy for violent goons and thugs. And that's just. That's just how it is.
- [42:01]
D
And to be clear on that, Jim, these people who were convicted with all these conspiracy theories that are surround them now. Right. Were convicted on a jury of their peers.
- [42:10]
B
Right.
- [42:10]
D
It wasn't just like one person singled them out and say, you're going to jail. No, they had a fair trial. That's important to say here. And secondly that I'd like to point out to you is that we are still in a country where free speech still exists for now. So you are allowed to say what you just said for now.
- [42:29]
C
Well, but there is an important point to make on that front. And I'll share with you, Jim, without putting any of these people in the camera frame. There are folks here today that are current federal employees from the national security community and law enforcement. A handful of them that I spoke to, and here's why that is significant, is this is a moment where the president has claimed Article 2 powers to be able to unilaterally fire any federal employee. And we have seen extraordinary purges of federal employees. So the fact that today you would see even a handful of federal employees show up in this crowd is to me quite brave because the president has made it very evident that if you stand against him, even though being here is first amendment protected speech, that's you can't be fired from your job for that. They will find a way to fire you from your job for that. And so to me, it's. It's telling that even in this environment, you still have folks who are willing to stand up amidst that kind of pressure.
- [43:37]
B
Well, and Politico apparently is. Has reported that an FBI agent was relieved of his duties for refusing to perp walk. Comey. That apparently is something that has been reported and Politico is also reporting. I should just point out Kyle Cheney, who's a very good justice department reporter for Politico. He is saying the justice department has brought in two assistant US Attorneys. What's that?
- [44:02]
D
I haven't. I have incoming. So we're about to go live with someone who I'm on the list with. Just want to warn you about that.
- [44:09]
B
Oh, okay. Yeah. Keep us posted if anything develops. But I was just. No, I was just saying that. That the justice department has brought in two assistant US Attorneys from out of state to work this prosecution out of the North Carolina U. S. Attorney's office. So do you have somebody on top of you right now, Olivia, giving you.
- [44:28]
D
A hard time Right here?
- [44:30]
B
Oh, I see. Okay. Is it the bald gentleman there? Who is kind of the.
- [44:33]
D
Yeah, that's Ivan.
- [44:35]
B
That's Ivan. And he's bothering. Looks like a CBS reporter right now.
- [44:38]
D
Now he's bothering cbs. Yeah.
- [44:40]
B
Yeah. Well, I mean, these folks need to understand that we're not afraid. We're not afraid of them. And they're. And this is still America. We still have freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and we can report things the way we want to report them, honestly, independently, here in independent media. We're not going to be intimidated by goons and thugs, bald ones.
- [45:05]
C
And I'm glad you say that, Jim. I mean, look, I'll be very honest with our viewers right now. What am I doing here at the federal courthouse carrying a backpack and doing a live stream? Miles is not a reporter, but I think the importance of being here is that people are scared to go be a part of these conversations. We have to show them it's not scary to come out and protest. It's not scary to come out and send a message. And it's very, very easy to be persuaded that, well, something might become dangerous or you shouldn't be there because someone with a MAGA hat might give you a hard time. And even Olivia and I had that conversation. And I'll tell you, this past weekend, I was talking to my wife about how I felt like it was important for people to be there the day that Comey got arraigned to have this conversation. And she looked right back at me, Jim, and she said, well, if that's the case, then you should go be one of those people. Don't spend time trying to recruit other people to go there. You yourself need to show up, have that conversation, and see it for yourself. And that's why I got in the car and drove over here. That's why Olivia came over here, is because it's important not to just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. And I think what's interesting is we are seeing people organically do that here. Despite the fact that this arraignment was moved back a day at the very last minute, they were expecting much more widespread protests. And it sounds like the judge wanted to move it to try to reduce the potential security situation here. And yet we still have folks that are here protesting. And I do think that that's symbolic.
- [46:46]
B
Absolutely. No question about it. And we're still waiting.
- [46:49]
D
Yeah, we know exactly what that was. Right? I mean, they walked right up to me. They were standing there. That was an attempt.
- [46:55]
B
He was being a jerk.
- [46:56]
D
He was. And, you know, he knows who I am, obviously. I'm a featured person on his target. But here's the thing, Jim. I'm not going to be intimidated by these. And I think that's the first time I've ever cursed on ja. On media. At some time, it's got to save straight. So, you know, I know exactly what they're doing. But I think that that's why we show up. Like Niles said, it's important to lead by example.
- [47:22]
B
And you both led with tremendous examples, by the way. Go ahead, Miles.
- [47:26]
C
Oh, I was just going to say, I think, Jim, that we are expecting, you know, probably any moment here to see the former FBI director's vehicle roll in. We're getting close to the time, as folks know, the arraignment of James Comey is scheduled for 10am today here in Alexandria, Virginia. And if you're just joining us, this is outside the district courthouse where Comey is planning to roll up. They're not sure if he's going to come in the back where they would normally bring in high profile people who have a security risk or in the front. But it's the, as you can see, Jim, it's the working assumption of the media here that have tents all set up, that Director Comey will be brought in the front of the building, that they likely won't extend to him that courtesy of going in the back door. And I suspect that's because the president and his allies want to see Comey humiliated. Now, I'll remind viewers as well that there were news stories the past few days that there was a request to the FBI to have, quote, beefy agents, big FBI agents that look tough, go and perp walk the former FBI director to handcuff him, to arrest him, to bring him in, get his mug shot and fingerprint him. That was leaked to the press. And of course, as you noted earlier, Jim, an FBI official was fired for refusing to do that. Now, it seems that because of that leak, the administration has given up on their desire to do that perp walk. They've been called out on it, but this might be their opportunity to get the footage they want of James Comey facing the justice system at the end of Donald Trump's coercive campaign to get him charged with something.
- [49:14]
B
Yeah, I mean, there's a part of me that wonders if he's being brought in through a back door or something like that. But to your point, Myles, you were just making a few moments ago if there's a report that Trump wanted or that the Justice Department wanted, quote, unquote, beefy FBI agents marching James Comey into the courthouse for a perp walk or something along those lines. Who, who could possibly be the person who said beefy FBI agents? Could that possibly be Donald Trump who wanted beefy people, quote, unquote, beefy people bringing in James Comey? I mean, that sounds like when he goes to the rallies and he says, and these big guys, they have tears in their eyes and they look up at me and they say, sir. I mean, it's just like right out of his tormented mind, his fraction.
- [49:58]
C
Well, that's right. I mean, when we used to go to events with the President around the country, Jim, whether it was to a Secret Service training facility or to the southwest border, he had this phrase that he would use regularly, and I think you heard him use it in person, is he'll go up to federal law enforcement, put his hands on their shoulders and say, my God, you look like you're straight out of central casting. And I remember the first time I heard him say that down at the southwest border is he walked up to a border patrol agent. There was a group of guys with high and tight haircuts. They were wearing Kevlar, they were carrying their guns. And he seemed delighted, almost as if these were his toys. And you heard people around the president talk about that's how he treated the generals in his first term. He considered the generals as his generals, as he used to put it. These were his guys that were there to. To do his bidding. And that's how he talked about federal law enforcement, too. And that phrase right out of central casting is something that's really important to Donald Trump. He wants people not just to act the part, but he wants them to look the part. Because to him, it's all about an extension of his authority. And I think that's why it's no surprise that you've seen in the past week, Pete Hegseth berate the United States military for people being overweight and not physically fit. I don't think that's something that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came up with. You can bet your bottom dollar that the President of the United States said, I want those guys to look like they are out of central casting. It's about optics, not about the mission.
- [51:35]
B
Yeah. And Olivia, Pam Bondi was asked point blank yesterday at that, at that hearing, did she have any conversations with Trump? I think it was Blumenthal. Senator Blumenthal showed the picture of her sitting at the dinner table with Trump on the new Olive Garden style patio that they used to pave over The Rose Garden. And she wouldn't answer the question as to whether Trump was talking about prosecuting Comey at that dinner.
- [52:03]
D
Yeah, no, she deflected and said, you know, she certainly came prepared to drop her own viral clip lines. And I would say that I, to me, performing maybe for an audience of one, which is funnel trap, maybe an audience of two, maybe Laura Loomer. She was on the out to Laura for a little bit when it came down to the Epstein stuff and other things along the way. So, yeah, I think that she. She was making up for it. And we saw that in real time during that hearing. Sorry. I was talking to law enforcement about Ivory maclean. They were just checking in to make sure everything was okay.
- [52:37]
B
Good.
- [52:37]
D
Going around. He's calling people fake news and going around to the camera people and filming them. So that's typical for Ivan.
- [52:45]
B
Dude, get a life. I'm sorry. Like, you know, can we get him a job somewhere? You know, I. I mean, my goodness, I don't know.
- [52:54]
D
I would have to check his work like I used to check half Patel's.
- [52:56]
B
Well, that's true. Who knows what's lurking? But let's not get caught up in Ivan because it sounds like that's what he would want. But. But this is. We're getting close to the moment, right? I mean, he.
- [53:08]
E
The.
- [53:08]
B
The arraignment document says 10 o' clock sharp, right, Miles? I think that's what it says. Glenn Kirschner sent it to me, and it says they want to start right at 10.
- [53:15]
C
And I've just been informed, Jim, that it sounds like the former FBI director is already inside. So I stand.
- [53:27]
B
I was wondering.
- [53:28]
C
I think my prediction of them bringing him in through the front of the building appears to be wrong. Now, we also had folks monitoring the side entrance over here, and they did not see the former FBI director arrive. So it seems, and this is interesting, but it seems that the court extended the former director the courtesy of coming in in more discreet fashion. You know, remember that there are folks in this building that are lifelong career civil servants, people who are not appointed by the White House. And so at some point in the process here, Comey was given that courtesy. What will be interesting to see, Jim, is whether there are folks that get flack from the White House about that. Donald Trump, again, has very much wanted to. To see some kind of perp walk of his adversaries as they're arrested. Presumably wanted was the one that wanted to see Comey picked up by these, quote, beefy FBI agents. And that hasn't happened he's been given, again, that courtesy that normally VIPs who face security threats are given to be brought into the building, apparently through some side entrance or at a different time. So we've just been informed that. And as you noted, Jim, we're expecting the arraignment to start right on time here at 10. There are not cameras allowed in the courtroom, as Glenn Kirschner noted earlier. We're expecting that to last maybe 10 or 15 minutes. We would presume that Comey huddles afterwards with counsel. And then there is the possibility, I think some members of the press expect, that he may come out the front door afterwards and, and make remarks. And there is a makeshift podium set up and microphones. And I think that's a distinct possibility that we see Comey appear after his arraignment.
- [55:18]
B
Yeah, that's an interesting point. I mean, I do think that is a very interesting development that Comey was able to go inside the courthouse, not in front of the cameras. What that says to me is that his attorneys. And we'll have to ask Glenn Kirchner what he thinks about this, very likely made the request that Comey be brought in through some back door or side door or sally port. Usually these kinds of courthouses have a sally port where you can just drive somebody right in if it's a sensitive case. And it would be interesting that the judge and the prosecution allowed for that. And it says to me that they. I think the prosecution understands the U.S. attorney's office must understand how precarious this case is, that it is just probably hanging by a particle of a thread at this point. Because I, I would assume at some point the judge is just going to say, to hell with this. I'm throwing this out. But it's interesting that they gave Comey this, this opportunity to go in through a back door or a side door and not out in front of the cameras as Donald Trump would want. Donald Trump has been defied by this judge already in this case. It seems to be, Olivia, the fact that Comey is not being paraded in front of the cameras, not forced to go out in front of the cameras, says to me that Donald Trump is already being defied.
- [56:40]
D
Yeah, no, I think so. And I'm sure that they are not, not pleased about that. No, especially because what we know happened at the FBI. So we'll see. We'll. We'll see how they react to that. And, you know, you know, kudos to the rule of law today. Right. That they are doing this and actually conducting it in A way that it should be handled and would traditionally be handled if it weren't for the fact that this is a targeted individual by the President of the United States, which is. I mean, whenever I say that, it just sounds so surreal that this is really our reality right now. So. Yeah. And I'm standing right by where the podium is, so.
- [57:22]
B
No, no, it does look like they.
- [57:23]
D
Expect people to make remarks.
- [57:24]
B
Yeah. And it. And a lot of times they put those little podiums up. The media will do that just in case, and it never happens. But, Olivia, this might go back to what you were saying earlier about security, and there might have been some concerns about security for the former FBI director coming in.
- [57:41]
D
I mean, I. That's why I mentioned that earlier, because I. I was kind of struck by that.
- [57:47]
B
Yeah.
- [57:48]
D
And I wondered, you know, what. What sort of the setup was to ensure his safety. And. And that may be part of it. And I'm glad. Glad to see that these precautions were taken and some of the other we're seeing showing up.
- [58:06]
B
Yeah. And, Miles, I mean, I think that. Oh, there's so there. Okay. There's an age. There's a reporter running out of the courthouse.
- [58:15]
D
They're running.
- [58:15]
C
Yep, that's right. And. And handing a report to someone. I'm gonna see if I can go get some more information there.
- [58:24]
D
Okay.
- [58:24]
C
Jim, More folks running out of the.
- [58:26]
B
Courthouse just to paint the picture for everybody, because we don't have cameras in the courtrooms. You have young reporters who are very nice working for these news outlets. They'll go into the courtroom, see what happens, and then as soon as it happens, they'll run back out. So I wonder if something has happened here. I wonder if Glenn Kirschner can come out. Hopefully, he can be back out here soon and tell us what's going on. Miles is investigating.
- [58:54]
D
They're going back in, which is interesting, some of them.
- [58:59]
B
Oh, that's interesting. So if they're going back in, maybe they're just running out to say, he's here in the courtroom. You know what I mean? I think that might be.
- [59:07]
D
It came out, ran. Here comes another one running out. But the very first one that you saw actually ran out and then ran back in.
- [59:15]
B
Yeah, just for the folks at home. So in federal. In these federal proceedings, you can't have cameras in the courtroom. A lot of times they don't allow cell phones, and you can only go in with a pen and a pad. And so sometimes these local outlets, cable outlets, news outlets, will send in a reporter who will just sit in the courtroom, write this down. And as soon as they figure out what the hell's going on, they run back out and tell the live reporter who is on in front of the camera to explain to the American people what's happening. I suspect that that's what's happening. And perhaps some of these outlets did not know that Comey went in through a side entrance, that he was already there. He has to be there right now, folks, because according to the arraignment court document, this proceeding was to begin promptly at 10:00am I doubt very seriously that at 10:02am that this proceeding has ended. My guess is, is that it's just beginning and that you have some reporters running out of the courthouse to tell their news outlets that, yes, the former FBI director isn't indeed inside the courtroom.
- [60:14]
C
That's correct, Jim. I've just gotten confirmation from reporters who were in there. Some of the folks you saw run out that the proceedings have begun and that Director Comey, of course, is in the courthouse with his lawyers. So the arraignment of the former FBI director is currently underway.
- [60:34]
B
Yeah, well, and I just want to say, I'm just going to, not to go on a tangent, but I will make a quick plug. It is the year 2025. The fact that we don't have cameras in the courtroom in every courtroom in America, to me, is. Remains to me one of the silliest things in the world. And I know there are purists who will say, oh, well, it'll just turn everything into the O.J. simpson trial. Baloney. The American people should be able to see what's happening right now. They should be able to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears what is taking place in Alexandria, Virginia, that a federal courthouse has been transformed into a kangaroo courthouse for Donald Trump because the former FBI director is being hauled in front of a judge indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on charges that are basically trumped up, pun intended, in this targeted prosecution of James Comey. Now, you can see the media. There is gathered all the still photographers, TV photographers. They're waiting to see, as Miles was saying earlier, whether the former FBI director will come out in front of the cameras. I suppose it's quite possible that he might get hustled out of there and we may not even really see him, and that all you may see today is his, his, you know, his, his face inside of a dark SUV through, through a tinted window that some random news outlet might get. But we'll see. I, I'm with you, Miles. I would Love very much to hear from James Comey, but maybe they're concerned about the security of all this, I don't know. And if Miles is not there, Olivia, feel free to chime in.
- [62:06]
C
I, I am. I'm just, I'm just picking up a little bit of intel here. I think reporters who've gone in, Jim, are identifying who has shown up for the prosecution, who has shown up for defense. The defense. And, you know, you noted this earlier, that it was a question of who in the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia was actually going to prosecute this case. Because Lindsey Halligan, who's an insurance lawyer who has been put in the job by Donald Trump, has never prosecuted a case like this or, to my knowledge, any case whatsoever. And so they've had to bring in essentially hired guns to prosecute this case. And that's going to be an interesting question about which of those folks that have, which of those outsiders that have been brought in or are here today on behalf of the prosecution. And another very important thing to note about this today is we, of course, expect the former FBI director to plead not guilty to these charges. And there is a lot of speculation among legal analysts that this might be one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent, case of what will likely be claimed to be selective and vindictive prosecution. So what does that mean? Well, under the 14th and 5th Amendments of the United States Constitution, those amendments taken together suggest that American citizens cannot be prosecuted selectively on the basis of their Class A protected status or their First Amendment beliefs. There is an awful lot of evidentiary little molehills here, maybe evidentiary, mountains of selective and vindictive prosecution going back years. And Donald Trump's animus goes back about 10 years. Go ahead. Olivia.
- [63:52]
B
Olivia, I just wanted to.
- [63:53]
D
Yeah. I just wanted to tell you. Yeah. We are, we, we deterred that he, James Comey, is probably not guilty.
- [64:01]
B
Oh, he's pled not guilty, is that right? Interesting. Okay, go ahead.
- [64:05]
D
Sorry.
- [64:06]
B
Well, there you go.
- [64:07]
C
I mean, that's, you know, that is. That is big. We've got, of course, the former FBI director saying he's not guilty of these crimes. And I think as. As the trial comes, and we won't know yet when the trial is scheduled to happen, I think we are going to see Comey's lawyers make that case of selective and vindictive prosecution. So keep in mind, this is a story that's led us to this courthouse that has taken almost a decade. Ten years ago, nine years ago, Donald Trump fired James Comey from his job because of Comey's involvement in the Russia investigation. And since that time, you have got a long history of Trump tweeting about speaking about James Comey and speaking about his adversaries and wanting to lock them up. So as Comey's attorneys prepare for this eventual trial, if it does happen, you can imagine that they are going to amass all of those clippings, all of those comments that Donald Trump has made over time to show that this case did not begin with the facts and circumstances around an alleged illegal act, that this began by the president saying he wanted the prosecution of one of his adversaries. And that's going to weigh very heavily in James Comey's favor. So this may be, again, one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent, cases of selective and vindictive prosecution, which is normally a very hard thing to prosecute. You have to have a very hard defense. You have to have really solid evidence to show that charges were brought against you selectively, vindictively. And I think in this case, James Comey has ample evidence of that.
- [65:49]
B
Yeah. And, Olivia, I mean, we heard Pam, Bonnie, yesterday being asked about all sorts of things. One thing that she was asked about was the allegation that Tom homan inside of Acava, was accepting a bag of $50,000 in cash as part of an FBI investigation. And she didn't want to comment on that. She didn't want to talk about it. She accused the senators who asked about it of slandering him and so on. These are allegations that have been reported. And I'm just seeing a breaking news alert from the Hill. James Comey pleading not guilty in this case. So our Olivia Troy on the scene for us, breaking the story for us before the Hill. Way to go, Olivia.
- [66:34]
D
Thanks. Teamwork there. We're dividing and conquering here. So.
- [66:37]
C
Yes, no, no.
- [66:38]
B
But I was pointing out, like Tom Homan, not in a courthouse. James Comey in a courthouse.
- [66:44]
D
Yeah. America, a double standard. I don't know what is.
- [66:48]
B
That's Trump style justice right there.
- [66:50]
C
Well, and Jim, to that end, you know, yesterday, like I noted earlier, we had the attorney General testifying before Congress, and I spoke to a senior former Trump administration official yesterday, someone who I had served with, who said, you know what's very interesting about the attorney General's testimony is a lot of things that she said during that testimony were provably false. Now, again, she was reluctant to talk too much about the James Comey investigation, knowing that the exact thing that they're prosecuting him for is what she could have been guilty of if she said anything incorrect about the Comey investigation. But she made comments after that about a number of other policy decisions in the administration which folks have said are potentially, provably false. So, look, do I think the attorney general is going to be investigated by the FBI director for making false statements yesterday? No, I do not. But what you can imagine will happen is when the rule of law is restored, when this administration is gone, I suspect, especially after this Comey indictment, you are going to see future administrations comb through every single page of congressional testimony that was delivered by members of the Trump administration to make sure, when they swore an oath to tell the truth, that they did tell the truth about what they are testifying. And whether that is on C span 9 or whether it was a primetime televised hearing, I think you are going to see an effort to go through those and make sure that the things the Trump administration was prosecuting its rivals for were things that they themselves complied with, namely the obligation to tell the truth to Congress.
- [68:31]
B
Yeah, yeah. And, and I mean, to me, you know, I've said this before. I'll say it again. Pam Bondi, she reminds me of Ricky Bobby's girlfriend in Talladega Nights. You know, I'm a racer's wife. I don't work. But when she, I mean, she does not inspire a lot of confidence. I don't know if you can prosecute Pam Bondi for what she said in front of Congress or what she said at all, because she's just not a serious figure to me. You know, I, I here's a subscriber question asking right now, can they call Donald Trump to testify? I asked this of Glenn Kirschner the other night when this indictment came down. Olivia Troy, and I think that's. Or Miles, feel free to weigh in. I think that's a tantalizing question, Olivia. Could Donald Trump be called in to testify? If at the heart of the defense in this case is that Donald Trump ordered the prosecution of James Comey, then he becomes a relevant witness, it seems to me.
- [69:24]
D
I mean, I would think so, right? I mean, if you want to bring the case, I would think that they would want to want to question you. So that'll be interesting to see these two navigate that. And by those two, I mean Donald Trump and Pam Bondi.
- [69:37]
B
That might be when this case is dropped.
- [69:41]
C
This is a good question.
- [69:42]
D
We know how he goes on that.
- [69:43]
C
For our friend Glenn Kirschner when he comes back out of the courthouse is what might happen here in terms of discovery. And that's why earlier, Jim, I said that there's a chance that this case might not go to trial because in order for James Comey to adequately defend himself, especially to show whether this was a selective or vindictive prosecution, he's going to have rights to discovery to see what communications that the government engaged in that led to the charges being made. So even if the attorney general is unwilling to talk about what was discussed at the White House over dinner with the President the night before Comey was charged, Comey and his legal team are going to have a vested interest in knowing that information, and it could be very, very material to his defense. And you may see the administration decide as this process goes on that there are things that are embarrassing, potentially even incriminating, that were discussed in the lead up to the charges against Comey. So a question will be, do they want to see this out all the way to the discovery phase, and will the judge them to go as far as Comey's legal team will say they need to go to get that information to prove his innocence? That's going to be a big question here. That will be a development, though, much further down the road in this case.
- [70:59]
B
Yeah. And. And I guess. Go ahead, Olivia.
- [71:02]
D
Go ahead, go ahead. No, I was just going to say I had just wanted to flag that a couple more people have shown up in terms of showing support for Comey. And I just had a couple people walk up and ask me if, if it started. And one of the things we expected was one of the people walked up and asked about his family and asked if his family was in there. I took my list and I didn't know. I think that's important to remind people, like the human aspect of this and that there are people's families going through this. Miles knows as well. My family knows as well. You know this well, Jim. And so I just wanted to share that, that there are people showing up here who are thinking about the repercussions of this, what this is the human side of it. And that was a question that really struck me.
- [71:43]
C
Well, and that's such a great point. For those that are joining us late, we've got a protest footprint, a small protest footprint, but nonetheless, we have folks here with signs about a show trial, about trumped up charges, about tyranny, no kings signs, bogus political prosecution, saving justice. People showing up here today despite the fact that the Trump administration has made very clear that they're willing to go after the political opposition. And I noted earlier that there were Folks in the crowd on the other side of the street that I spoke to that are current federal employees that have even shown up here today, federal employees who are worried about their jobs for speaking out against the president. And there's another interesting note to make here. And it's not just about the people who've shown up today, Jim. We're in a very unique moment in that with regularity, I think you and Olivia are hearing the same thing. You have people who are serving in government or serving foreign governments coming to visit the United States scrubbing their social media profiles out of fear that something they might have said, something political, something protected by the First Amendment, might cost them their jobs. And, of course, this has happened to journalists, too. We saw Donald Trump outside the White House the other week threaten a CBS News reporter, threaten a reporter from Australia for simply asking him questions. And the retaliation against folks, whether they're in the media, whether they are federal employees, is extensive. And so it is notable anytime you see people speaking out. But one example of that is very striking to me is I met with a European journalist the other week who has traveled to the United States dozens of times, has covered presidents of both parties. And the person said, before I came back into the United States at the start of the Trump administration, I went five years back on every social media account and scrubbed anything that could be deemed to be critical of the administration because I was told I would likely not get my visa if there was information like that out there that really tells you something about the land of the free today.
- [73:50]
B
Unreal. And just go ahead, Olivia.
- [73:53]
D
I'm gonna go off camera for a second. I'm just gonna make sure that the protesters are okay. They're being harassed by our favorite person. I'll be right back.
- [73:58]
B
Oh, boy. Okay, thank you. And just to recap for our viewers, as Miles was saying, you are watching live coverage. We're outside the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where the former FBI Director, James Comey is being subjected to targeted political prosecution. This morning was a scheduled arraignment at that courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia. He has entered a plea of not guilty. He's. He slipped into the courthouse, probably for his security outside of the view of cameras just a short while ago. He's inside the courtroom as we speak. We are hoping that he will come outside, as Miles was saying just a few moments ago, to speak to the cameras. And if that's the case, it'll be the first time, I think, that we really heard from him outside of that video that he put out just a short while ago. But I think what we're seeing, Miles, right now is Olivia is talking to that Ivan. That Ivan character. Is that what's happening here?
- [74:51]
C
He's giving you a hard time? Yeah. I'm told we've got some MAGA folks here, some J6ers who have been sort of harassing the protesters that are out front here. Maybe Olivia can tell us more.
- [75:09]
D
Yeah, I decided to have a little conversation. I wanted to clarify some things that I was saying that he goes after both sides, that he's there. And I said, well, if that were the case, I just want to clarify because I am on your list, I'm target of yours. I get threatened by you. And so I was like, so if you're going to talk to the American people, people here who are exercising their freedom of speech, let's be very clear about what you do and the role that you play in what's happening here. Let's be fair and be honest with them.
- [75:33]
B
Yeah. And I mean, I guess he's trying to do his own social media content. He probably has about five followers, something like that. And, you know, let him do his pathetic thing here. But you, you. I think what I can see from the protesters outside the courthouse who are exercising their right to free speech is they're giving it right back to him and they're telling them, we're not going to put up with this. And God bless them.
- [75:56]
D
That's important. Yep.
- [75:58]
B
Yeah. And I love the signs. You know, it. You know, one of them says bogus political prosecution. One of them says show trial. We were talking to some of them earlier. Miles, you had that great moment with one of the protesters who said that courage is contagious. I love that. I'm going to be thinking about that all day long.
- [76:17]
C
Well, and you just saw, Jim, some of the protesters confronting the J6ers here and calling them liars and telling them to basically give them their space, let them exercise their First Amendment rights here in front of the courthouse. You know, and look, and this is the reason I think, that folks are increasingly scared to stand up today is they worry about going to a protest and being intimidated. And the more folks show that there is strength in numbers, like that woman Martha mentioned earlier, who I spoke to, the more people will be unafraid to come out. And we, of course, had seen that with. With that comment from the protester earlier who said that courage is contagious. And you've got folks here today trying to show that by example. Now, I will Note, Jim, it's 10:20 right now, and I think that we would expect that normal proceedings of this kind, if they weren't finished already, would be close to being completed, that we would likely see the, the prosecution and the defense wrap up in their conversation with the judge. Arraignments are not normally a long affair. And so I think we expect in the next few minutes here to see our own Glenn Kirschner coming back out of the building and hopefully can give us the latest update on the arraignment.
- [77:38]
B
Yeah, that would be great. I've already messaged Glenn. If you guys are seeing me occasionally, look down at my phone. It's because I'm texting people like Glenn and texting our folks out there in the field and like yourselves, saying, thank you so much for this excellent coverage. But Miles, I suspect you're right that we're now at about hour and 17 minutes into this coverage and thank everybody for, for watching us and continuing to watch us, keep, keep subscribing, keep liking, keep sending your comments. But I would imagine at this point, having covered these sorts of things, that this is going to be a fairly brief proceeding, that Comey is going to be allowed to enter his place plea, which he has. He's entered a plea of not guilty. And then the judge will likely do some scheduling with the lawyers over next steps and they'll likely set another hearing in this case, my guess is will not be set for anytime soon. This is not the People's Court. It's not Judge Judy. It's the American judicial system. And, and sometimes it all moves very slowly. And at that point, I suspect Mr. Comey will be allowed to go about his business and go on his way. I can't. They're not going to hold him or anything like that. The question becomes at this point, does he go out the back entrance, the side entrance, whatever he came in, he probably came in through a sally port that is cured by the Justice Department. Or will he want to come out and make a statement to the cameras? And if that's the case, that'll be a very dramatic moment, no question about it. My thought is, and we were talking about this earlier, is whether he wants to deny Donald Trump that moment. And I, I wonder if that's a part, if he wants to control this and maybe do a video later or something like that. Because if he goes out in front of the cameras, you have goofballs like Ivan and so on who could scream and make a circus out of this.
- [79:21]
D
That's what I was thinking.
- [79:22]
B
And I wonder if the lawyers are like, you know what, let's, let's avoid all of that. We'll control the media production here and, and do our own thing later. That's possible. So we may just be hearing from Glenn when he comes out. And I owe Glenn a big. And the rest of you a big steak dinner. But Miles, go ahead.
- [79:38]
C
Well, well, no, I think, I think that's a really good point, Jim, is, you know, there's, there's a lot of, a lot of persuasive arguments in favor of Comey being in a more controlled situation to make his response to this. And you will note that the place that he first made a statement about his indictment wasn't in front of the cameras. It wasn't at a major news network. It was on substack. You know, James Comey posted a short video and you know, on substack that was later reposted to other media platforms saying that he intended to fight this, saying that he was innocent and ending his remarks with let's have a trial, keep the faith. And in a way, I think it's fitting that we are here live on the same new media platform covering James Comey's arraignment while he's here. I would, I would say that, Jim, you may be right that he chooses a more controlled platform like such substack to comment. Although he has said in his most recent video or second most recent video that he's not going to be speaking on the platform extensively about the case. He's going to let the legal proceedings dictate what he says about the case. Now I would consider today to be one of those. So we may see after this proceeding him make a statement out there at the microphones or do so on his own accord.
- [81:01]
B
Yeah. And we, just a few moments ago, Miles, when you were speaking, there were a couple of folks, those young reporter looking types, running out of the courthouse, going up to their respective outlets. So I wonder whether maybe things are getting close to wrapping up or it's possible that these reporters are running out to go to their outlets to brief them on the latest thing that has happened in the courtroom. And so, Olivia, we're all just waiting to see what happens. And I, I, you know, first of all, I want to show some respect to, to the court officers who are standing outside the courthouse there and keeping the peace, keeping things under control and allowing those protesters to be where they are. I think that's highly important to it. Just as an aside, but it's, are you seeing some of the same kind of activity, Olivia, where there's folks are starting to come and go.
- [81:50]
D
Yep. They're going in and out. Sorry. And I was talking international media is showing up here. So there.
- [81:56]
E
Wow.
- [81:57]
D
They're coming up. There's a lot of international interest on us. So I was just having a conversation with one of them about now, how it's going. And they're all. We're all waiting for the same thing. We're just trying to figure out where it stands. But, yeah, there does seem to be some movement. So we'll try to.
- [82:09]
B
Olivia, talk about that. There's a. There's a report running out of the courthouse right now. Maybe we'll see something from Glenn Shortly here. Olivia, while we're waiting for a development, I mean, the whole world is watching. The American judicial system has been held up as the example to the world for what, the last 250 years.
- [82:29]
D
A lot of people are walking out now.
- [82:32]
B
A lot of people are walking out now. Okay, so that probably tells us that this proceeding, this arraignment for James Comey has ended. And that in a few moments we'll get some, some live witness anecdotes from folks who are inside the courtroom. Hopefully, our buddy Glenn Kirschner will come out. Olivia, you go ahead. If you got to go and gather some information, let us know. And.
- [82:58]
D
Yeah, yeah, it's done.
- [83:00]
B
It's done. Okay.
- [83:01]
E
Yeah.
- [83:01]
B
All right. So it sounds as though that the arraignment and the political prosecution, the targeted prosecution of James Comey has ended. You're seeing some reporters who are in the courthouse coming out now. That's why they're all running courthouse. The judge, the judges don't allow cameras, they don't allow cell phones and so on. So you have to do it the old fashioned way and run out everything. The only thing that's missing here is the pony express. But folks need to run out, tell their outlets what happened inside the courtroom, and that's how the information gets out to the public. Hopefully our buddy Glenn. And Olivia, you. You're in charge of tackling Glenn as soon. As soon as he comes.
- [83:37]
D
Got it.
- [83:38]
B
As soon as he comes out.
- [83:39]
C
Or Miles, I suspect we'll see him any moment here. And. But the question is whether Comey will come out the front here and make any remarks as we've talked about, Jim. But, but to take a step back for the moment since the proceedings have concluded, just to zoom out in terms of history here, this is a remarkable moment. A former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the first time in American history has been arraigned on charges that were coerced by the president and the White House as an apparent act of retaliation against that former FBI director for his service while in government and for his subsequent criticisms of the president, who then became a former president, spoke extensively about Comey, spoke extensively about locking up his adversaries, who's now since been elected, reelected, returned to office, and followed through on those threats. You really cannot overstate that. And I know that every day we talk about how each development in the news is breathtaking and unprecedented. You can't get numb to that. And this certainly is one of those seminal moments we have seen that the President of the United States now displays the ability, with the stroke of a pen and with the issuance of a social media post, to bring indictments against his adversaries.
- [84:56]
B
Jim, thank you so much for saying that, Miles. That is such a great point. And I'm just letting Everybody Know on YouTube and Substack, folks who are watching this live, I am still seeing your comments, and I'm so grateful to all of the positive comments about the coverage. And keep in mind, we're going to keep doing this as much as we possibly can. There's Glenn Kirschner. He's coming out now. And there's Miles grabbing Glenn.
- [85:20]
D
I got both.
- [85:23]
B
And what do you have, Olivia?
- [85:26]
D
Here. I have them here. They're walking up now.
- [85:28]
B
Okay. Yeah, we're going to get Glenn on here to tell us what he.
- [85:34]
D
See what's going on.
- [85:35]
B
Great. Glenn was inside the courtroom. Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, host of justice matters on substack, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. And Glenn's going to give us an eyewitness account of what took place inside. As we've been saying all morning long, no cameras in the courtroom, no cell phones. Yeah. Glenn, tell us what happened. Olivia, you. You interview Glenn if you want. I can't hear Glenn.
- [86:02]
D
Yeah, he did. Hold on. Here, put these on. Hold on. He's working on it.
- [86:08]
B
Okay, no worries. This is live television, folks. We're getting the great Glenn Kirschner miked up here.
- [86:15]
A
Well, and.
- [86:16]
C
And, Jim, I'll jump back in here for a second. One thing. I'll scoop Glenn for a moment. We have word that there's a January 5th trial date that has been set. And I think there's really interesting significance here on the eve of what will be at that point, the fifth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection against the United States Capitol. It sounds like James Comey will have his trial. So I think Glenn Kirschner is ready to join us here. Yeah, Glenn, I will turn it over to him.
- [86:47]
B
Thank you, Miles, so much. Glenn, what can you tell us?
- [86:51]
E
So, Jim, you know, I think predictably, James Comey's defense attorney, Fitzgerald, raised issues that he wanted to get on the record immediately. He did it under the sort of guys of setting emotions hearing very quickly so they can get these what he called potentially case dispositive issues resolved promptly. That is legalese for, I think we have good motions to dismiss this case short of trial. And he actually said, you know, we may be able to do away with this case short of trial. Paraphrasing. Now, he has raised things like, not surprisingly, vindictive and selective prosecution. He really did feature the attack that they're going to make against the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, saying that they're going to challenge it as an unlawful appointment. And I think toward the end, one of the things that he really wanted to impress upon the judge was he wants prompt discovery of the appointment materials showing whether Lindsey Halligan is lawfully or unlawfully appointed as U.S. attorney. The judge basically said, I want you all to deal with this. I want you to have meaningful discussions, and by Friday, I want you to propose a joint discovery order that will hopefully take care of all these issues. But if you can't agree. The judge made it clear he will resolve these issues, but quick. The judge was very efficient, very no nonsense. And, you know, he said at one point, which everybody got a chuckle out of, if we have to work through SEPA classified information procedures to get this case in the chute for trial, we will move through SEPA procedures more quickly than you have ever seen in your life. And I respect the judge at his word.
- [88:55]
D
Sorry, guys, being harassed. One second, Comey.
- [88:58]
E
Comey also said that Comey's lawyer also said that they're going to file a truth as a defense motion. They're going to file a grand jury abuse motion. They're going to file an outrageous governmental conduct motion. So they're, you know, unloading with both legal barrels, and it sounds like they're going to attack this prosecution on every conceivable ground. So. And not surprisingly, the judge put James Comey on personal recognizance, saying, I assume the government is not asking for pretrial detention or any conditions to be placed on the defendant. And the judge said, none have been requested, and there are none that are appropriate here. So he put James Comey on personal recognizance.
- [89:42]
B
Interesting. And I wonder if we'll see him out in front of the cameras here. I wonder if he'll slip out the way he slipped in. But, Glenn, what was that moment like when you heard the enter of not guilty, the plea being entered of not guilty? What was that like?
- [89:57]
E
It was predictable. Right after you're put on notice of the charges against which you will have to defend, the next things that happen are the defendant will enter a plea, will request a trial date, sometimes a speedy trial date, sometimes not. I was really interested. My ears perked up when the defense attorney for Comey said, we're asking for a trial date. That was a tell that they were willing to give up a speedy trial date in favor of a trial date. But then the judge went on to set a trial in Fairly short order, January 5th. And a really ambitious motion schedule and oral argument schedule leading up to that trial date. I will say, Jim, but to answer your question directly, when I saw James Comey stand up and not guilty plea entered, he sort of literally, and I'm going to say figuratively, towered over the court, not just because of his height, but because of the gravity of this moment. You know, our nation's, you know, really first vindictive prosecution by a President of the United States.
- [91:02]
B
You're absolutely right. And Jim Comey is a tall man, and so he would, he would certainly tower, both literally and figuratively. But it sounds as though they have a very aggressive defense plan for James Comey, from what you were saying a few moments ago. And for folks who are not maybe familiar with Comey's defense attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, if I, if I'm getting his name correct, he is a longtime federal prosecutor with experience in public corruption cases, and so he's very respected by both sides of the aisle in this country.
- [91:37]
E
Yeah, that's right. And interestingly, the second chair, in other words, the other defense attorney, together with, with Fitzgerald, is somebody named Jessica Carmichael, if I got her name right. And here is what I found really interesting when they were talking about the possibility of classified information making an entrance in this trial. And when that happens, there are lots of procedures and challenges that go along with using prosecutors using classified information. One of the challenges is the defense attorneys themselves have to be granted security clearances by the executive branch, which feels a bit ironic or incongruous. But the judge noted that, look, defense attorney Fitz Fitzgerald, longtime government public servant, as was the defendant James Comey himself, there shouldn't be a problem with the executive branch granting them whatever security clearances are necessary. And then he said, and Jessica Carmichael has Handled many cases in this courthouse involving national security and classified information. So she already has her security clearances. That, again, made my ears perk up. And now I want to look into her background, the kind of cases she has been handling, because she will be an integral part of James Comey's defense team.
- [93:03]
B
Yeah, that is such an important point, Glenn. And it sounds as though the judge is not going to suffer fools gladly in this case. From what you were saying, it sounds as though he's down to business here. But I guess, could there be points between now and the trial date where the judge could throw this out? Is there another hearing date set before the trial? Might we see some emotions hearing or something like that? Forgive me for drawing upon my limited courtroom experience covering cases. I haven't done it in some time. But your sense of that.
- [93:36]
E
So, Jim, the first oral argument that he scheduled on what the defense called the dispositive motions, in other words, motions to dismiss, that would put an end to this case prior to trial. That first oral argument is going to be November 19th, and then the second tranche of motions will be filed, and those will be argued on December 9th. You know, this almost feels like a typical general felony or misdemeanor case, something that is going to move through the system very quickly. And yet, I think, you know, the gravity of this kind of hung heavy in the courtroom. So. But like you say, the judge is going to move through this expeditiously, and he made clear that he doesn't want to hear any delay occasioned by, for example, the prosecutors dragging their feet. He didn't accuse them of that. But on the classified information issue, which can, you know, kind of throw a bit of sand in the gears when that is involved as part of a criminal prosecution.
- [94:36]
B
And was Lindsey Halligan, was she in the courtroom at all?
- [94:39]
E
The.
- [94:40]
B
The U.S. attorney say a word?
- [94:42]
E
There were three prosecutors. Only one spoke. I think his name, last name is Lemons, if I heard correctly. The acoustics were a little challenging in the courtroom. He was the only one who spoke. Lindsey Halligan was something of a potted plant. And I didn't really expect her to be the one speaking in court because I can't imagine she was there. She was there. So three. Three prosecutors were there. Lindsey Halligan, Mr. Lemons. And the third, who is reportedly an AUSA down in the North Carolina US Attorney's office, but I didn't quite catch his name because.
- [95:13]
B
Because, yeah, no, that's my understanding is. And I was drawing upon Kyle Cheney's reporting over politico is that they brought in a Couple of Assistant U.S. attorneys from North Carolina to handle this case because it sounds as though the, the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia has just been decimated in recent weeks. And they have Lindsey Halligan there, who has no business being the U.S. attorney. But it's interesting that she was in the courtroom. I suppose she'll be reporting back to the Dear Leader as to the developments. I suppose, yeah.
- [95:44]
E
And I would say, I mean, I don't think you can accurately say things went bad for one side or bad for the other. But what I will say is that at arraignment hearings, you usually don't get into the substantive motions that the defense intends to file. So that is a little bit of a PR play by Comey's defense team. Not inappropriate, because when you're asking the judge to set certain deadlines for the filing and the oral argument of motions, you do want to give the judge a little bit of an idea of what those motions will be and, for example, how far out in the future to put them and how much time to allocate for them on the day you're going to be hearing oral arguments. So, but listen, Comey's defense team made the point that there are lots and lots and lots of motions to be filed that will probably expose what went on in the run up to this prosecution, including a potentially vindictive prosecution by Donald Trump.
- [96:46]
B
Right. Because, Glenn, I think the, the, the question is going to be asked, do we see Pam Bondi get called to testify? Is there a request that's going to be made for Donald Trump to testify? Because the question is going to be asked, who ordered this prosecution? Did this order come from the Commander in chief and the President? United States. And that is germane to the case. That is, that is part of the defense, I would have to assume. I mean, that's just me, you know, doing an amateur Matlock here.
- [97:15]
E
You know, you know, when that and when Donald Trump basically made clear in a social media post that he wanted James Comey prosecuted, I would infer, evidence be damned, that was the tone of it. I think it's absolutely fair game for the defense to subpoena Donald Trump to testify about his vindictiveness, his motive, his reason for demanding that James Comey be prosecuted. Now, it doesn't mean the judge will grant the defense request to subpoena the president or the Attorney General, but what the judge will have to balance is the defendant's right to compel witnesses in his favor at Trial. That's a federal constitutional right. And judges, more often than not, will give the defense pretty wide latitude to subpoena people who may have relevant information to provide. And if he wrongfully denies it, I have seen cases reversed on appeal for denying somebody their constitutional right to compel witnesses to testify in their defense.
- [98:16]
B
Yeah. Thank you, Glenn, so much. Really appreciate it. Excellent job. I mean, we couldn't have called on anybody better to lay out what took place in that courtroom. Such an important moment for our country, our democracy, our. Our system of justice in America. Glenn, thank you very, very much. And, Olivia, is everything okay on your end? I. It sounds as though it's a little chippy out there.
- [98:40]
D
It is, it is. That's right. Other people in the media have my back. So more antics, a notable moment, more antics going on, directed to some directly at me. So we're weathering it. Who knew that he was bilingual? But anyways, we are out here out front, and he's bilingual.
- [98:59]
B
I have a couple of words you could share from me, you know.
- [99:03]
D
Thanks. Thanks. You know, I had, I had backup from fellow asking me if I was okay. So safety and numbers with Latinos here. So. Yeah, no, we're sitting here. You know, we're gathered. I mean, I think it looks like everyone is expecting him to walk out the front door. I mean, we're all, all here. You can see the crowd here.
- [99:25]
B
That's the question at this point. Does he. Does he emerge? And it's a big crowd. I mean, this is, this is really built up since you were there. Gosh, we're now an hour and 40 minutes into our coverage. Olivia, thank you so much. I owe everybody a big old stake somewhere.
- [99:42]
D
No, I mean, it's, you know, I will say it's not just media now. I mean, it's, you know, there's the, Mostly the protesters are still standing in front, but the crowd has grown where people are walking in from the community who are here waiting to see if he does walk out. And I had a couple of people walking up and asking, you know, is he okay? What do we know? And these are just, you know, Americans who are watching this happen today.
- [100:06]
B
Yeah, well, and I wonder if we're gonna have to find out at some point whether he's, he has slipped out and he's, he's gone for the morning. I, I, we don't know that at this point. We're trying to figure that out. But the breaking news, according to our, our Glenn Kirschner, Jim Comey, his trial has been Safe, set for January 5th. It sounds as though there's a hearing for opening arguments or opening, I guess, motions in the case on November 19, and that there might be another procedural hearing in December and early December. So this is going to be moving very quickly, folks, over the next three months. And so I, you know, this, this. I, I would have expected this to have been laid out in terms of a schedule over a longer period of time, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It sounds as though the judge wants to get down to business, get this case moved through the system and see how it develops. But, Olivia, there's some guy in a suit behind you. I see you walking around out there. It sounds like folks are trying to get in position for this moment. We'll see if it happens.
- [101:11]
D
Yeah, you know, I, I don't know. I mean, I just saw. Actually, I just watched security sweep the front with. With the dogs and everything. So maybe they are taking precautions in case he does walk out, given the crowd out here and we are seeing a lot of other people walk up. So I, you know, I don't know if that's a tell, but maybe, maybe, yes, but we, we know nothing.
- [101:34]
B
I mean, I, gosh, to me, this is such an important moment. It would mean so much, I think, to a lot of Americans out there to see Comey come out in front of the cameras. But I get that this is a sensitive time and we don't want to take any chances, and it might be better for him to respond in some sort of controlled setting. That may be what we're about to see take place here. So it's good that we had the old, good old fashioned gumshoe reporting of Glenn Kirchner coming out of the courthouse and telling us what, what took place inside. But it's a bit of a circus out there, is the way it looks to me, Olivia.
- [102:13]
D
Yeah, a little bit. I mean, you know, we've got. We've got some individuals in the pot that it is what it is. But, but, yeah, I think as far as meeting goes, we're. Everyone's out here just waiting. I don't see anyone starting to shut down or walk away. So I think they're. They're in it. We're all committed here, and I'm not going anywhere. So we can say, oh, we can log back in. It's up to you all, but you'll have me here and I'll certainly let you know if I see any movement.
- [102:43]
B
Yeah, no. And when you look at the front of the courthouse, are the protesters still there are the protesters.
- [102:50]
E
Still.
- [102:51]
D
Sure are. They're right in front of the door. They're here in front of the media. I'll show you this right now. Yeah, there's a media shot here, and you can see them. They're still. They're still there. And, you know, they're not going anywhere.
- [103:05]
B
Yeah. And the press hasn't left behind me.
- [103:08]
D
Nope. You can see that that's the crowd of the press here. People sort of workers running still. You see more. More gathered residents now here in the park here behind us. And I think everyone, you know, we're just a waiting game now to see if it happens.
- [103:25]
B
Yeah, yeah. And sometimes these things, you know, they. They might move to a side room. I remember during my press pass case when we were in federal court, you know, our lawyers pulled us aside when I got my press pass back, and they, you know, they said, okay, Jim, you can say not too much. Don't say too much. We don't want to get things riled up because the case could have, you know, still proceeded and had some hiccups along the way if I had said too much. But sometimes you sort of pre game before you come out in front of the cameras and say, okay, this is what we're going to say. This is how we're going to say it. That way we don't, you know, prejudice the case or piss off the judge or unsettle things in any kind of a way. So it's possible that they've moved to a side room and that they're going over what, you know, Mr. Comey would. Would say to the cameras. I wonder, though. I mean, I think this. When did Glenn come out? Around 10:30 Eastern, about 16 or 17 minutes ago, something like that. That, you know, we're now approaching the point of. I'm wondering whether. Yeah, he's going out the side of the back, and hopefully we'll find out shortly. Here's. I guess somebody will be able to go into the courtroom and say. Or a courthouse and say, nope, he's gone. You know, and perhaps we'll find out, you know, whether that's.
- [104:41]
D
I have not gotten any signal of that. And all the reporters who were inside the courtroom, I can see them. And they're still hanging out, right? They're still hanging out, but they're notebooks. So they're the ones that you saw them running out of the courthouse. So I don't know. I mean, maybe they know something we don't know. I haven't. Let me try to get some scuttle here and. But yeah, but I don't see anyone leaving.
- [105:01]
B
Interesting. Well, if there are any protesters who would like to speak to us, I wouldn't mind hearing from them again or. That happened very early on in our coverage. Miles, Miles got some great sound from one of the protesters there who was gathered outside the courthouse and she was talking about how fear is contagious, but so is courage. I thought that was such an important moment for us during this coverage. We in the independent media covering this, there's Lady Justice. We're showing a shot of lady justice right outside the Albert Bryan United States Courthouse. Justice is supposed to be blind in America, ladies and gentlemen, but as we're seeing with the prosecution of James Comey, sometimes president of the United States can put his thumb on the scales of justice. And that's, that is what we've been seeing take place this morning with Jim Comey entering a plea of not guilty in, in his case there at the courthouse. So we're waiting to see if the former FBI director is going to come out at any moment. I see a lot of my friends in the, in the press, some faces I recognize there from various outlets in the corporate media. I don't mean any slight by that just is what it is. And I suspect that, that they're not going to be waiting outside for just grins here. My, my guess is they're waiting to see if, if then they have some expectation that Comey is going to come out. But I just want to caution everybody who's still tuning in and thank you everybody for tuning in and making this such, such great coverage. There is the possibility that as Comey slipped in through a side entrance, back door, Sally Port, that kind of a thing, that he may do the same going out for security reasons, for messaging reasons and so on. Olivia seems to me, yeah, I mean.
- [106:56]
D
You know, it could go either way. I think million dollar question right now. I was just chatting with someone else. They, they do believe that we will, we will see him.
- [107:08]
B
Interesting.
- [107:09]
D
Didn't know where to confirm. So.
- [107:11]
B
Yeah, well, this is the tap dance.
- [107:15]
D
Here we are.
- [107:16]
B
This is the tap dancing of live coverage. But I do want to go because, you know, there was things that were happening and breaking as we were starting to have this conversation about Pam Bondi, the quote unquote Attorney General who was testifying up on Capitol Hill yesterday, and she was being asked about the Tom Homan case, which the Trump DOJ people threw out and said he doesn't need to be prosecuted even though he allegedly accepted a bag of $50,000 in cash. The juxtaposition between that case, the juxtaposition between the Eric Adams case in New York City, for example, cases that were not pursued by the Trump Justice Department. And here you have James Comey, who, you know, people might disagree with what he's done over the years politically and so on. They might think, you know, they don't like him very much because of the Comey letter that came out 11 days before the 2016 election and so on. But he, he, no evidence, has no facts have been put forward in front of the American people to say here is the reason why he should be prosecuted and should be punished for something that he's done. Olivia, the Trump Justice Department has not produced anything like that. That's what makes this so such a damn crazy spectacle.
- [108:33]
D
Right. And I think, and also the history of the people who resigned along the way, people who are talking about how they don't think they're there, there. And I think it's just evident of what this Department of Justice is now under Donald Trump, which is, you know, an extension of the West Wing, I would say an extension of the Oval Office, which is not the way this is supposed to function. As, you know, this is what we see in failing democracies. We did some movement left of the door. I'm not sure what's happening here. Look like a security person.
- [109:11]
B
Interesting. Okay, so maybe something might be about to happen. And if that happens, Mr. Comey comes out, we will take that to you live. Our Miles Taylor is about to jump back on and he can give us his thoughts and, and his observations of what he is seeing. But I, I was looking at the Washington Post, Olivia, and they had compiled last night. I'm gonna see if I can pull this story up here. Looking at the Pam Bondi hearing yesterday, she dodged questions some 14 times. 14 times.
- [109:50]
D
Yeah. And not only that, it seemed like she came with an opposition file. Right.
- [109:54]
B
Well, there's.
- [109:54]
D
Every time that she responded to things, she tried to throw things back in. The questioner's face is.
- [110:01]
B
And as we're waiting for Comey, I'm going to play some video. This is Adam Schiff confronting Pam Bondi on this yesterday. Let's, let's watch a little bit of this.
- [110:09]
A
It's, it's valuable that the American people get a sense of what you've refused to answer today. So these are just some of the questions you refuse to answer but or have answered with personal attacks on members of this committee. You were asked whether you consulted with career ethics lawyers as you promised you would do during your nomination hearing, when you approved the president receiving a $400 million gift from the Qataris. You refused to answer that question. You were asked who or what role you may have played or who played the role in asking that Trump's name be flagged in any of the Epstein documents gathered by the FBI. You refuse to answer that question. You were asked whether Homan kept the $50,000 bribe money. You refused to answer that question. You were asked whether Homan paid taxes on the $50,000 bribe money. Refused to answer that question. You were asked, did career prosecutors find insufficient evidence to charge James Comey? You refused to answer that question. You were asked, how were military strikes on these boats in the Caribbean legal? And you refuse to even ask. Answer that question. You were asked. Excuse me. Excuse me. You were asked, did you discuss indicting James Comey with the president? You refused to answer that question. You were asked, did you approve the firing of antitrust lawyers who disagreed with the Hewlett Packard merger? You fused. To answer that question. You were asked whether you support a restoration fund for violent insurrections. Insurrections to attack the Capitol on January 6th. Refused to answer that question. You were asked whether you were firing career professionals, career prosecutors, just because they worked on January 6th. Question. January 6th. Investigations. You refused to answer that question. You were asked by my California colleague whether you believe government officials, like immigration officials have to abide by court orders. You wouldn't even answer that question. Question. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing.
- [112:13]
E
Oversight.
- [112:14]
A
These. Excuse me. You can attack me after my time is over.
- [112:19]
B
Attacked all of us, including President Trump, for your.
- [112:21]
A
You can attack me later. And I. I know you've got plenty of canned attacks. We've heard them all day today.
- [112:26]
D
Can Attacks on you.
- [112:27]
A
This is supposed.
- [112:28]
C
No one needs a canned attack on you regular.
- [112:30]
E
Order.
- [112:30]
A
Madam Chair, I'm trying to speak. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing of the Justice Department, and it comes in the wake of an indictment called for by the president of one of his enemies. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing, and it comes in the wake of revelations that a top administration official took $50,000 in a bag and this department made that investigation go away. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing when dozens of prosecutors have been fired simply because they worked on cases investigating the former president. This is.
- [113:05]
C
And now the fires in California.
- [113:09]
A
This is. Excuse me. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing in which members of Congress can get serious answers to serious questions about.
- [113:20]
B
Are there riots in la? I mean, again, I've said it once, I'll say it again. And there's Miles Taylor there. She reminds me of Ricky Bobby's girlfriend on Talladega Nights. I'm a razor's wife. I don't work. But anyway, that's Pam, Bonnie, dodging the question time and again, all of the questions. And yet James Comey was arraigned this morning on trumped up charges of political prosecution. Miles is back with us. Miles, your thoughts on this morning. And I guess we're waiting to see if, if Comey comes out. That's, that's what we're doing.
- [113:52]
C
We're waiting to see if Comey comes out. But you know what was interesting to me about that clip that you played, Jim? A few things. So you've got U.S. senator Adam Schiff, who is also under investigation by the Trump administration, trying to engage in a back and forth with a cabinet secretary for an oversight hearing and being rebuffed. That's another example of lawlessness is, you know, what we are seeing from this administration now. We just, we have a couple of folks coming out of the courtroom. It doesn't look like Comey, just doesn't look like Comey coming out of the courtroom. But it may be some of the folks involved in the prosecution. We do have one of the protesters following them with a sign.
- [114:35]
B
That was that Lindsey Halligan coming out.
- [114:37]
E
I wonder.
- [114:38]
B
Yeah, I didn't get good view of it.
- [114:42]
C
But, but, but look, Jim, this is a, this is a historic day. And whether it's Comey under investigation, whether it's a sitting US Senator, Adam Schiff, there is a through line here in this story. And that through line is not the deep state, that through line is not criminal acts of a wayward government. That through line is the president of the United States has determined that people who have criticized him and people who have investigated him are effectively enemies of the state. And he is now, as we've seen today, following through on that threat by finding ways to charge those adversaries, by finding ways to charge those critics. And that has happened today with James Comey here at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.
- [115:30]
B
Yeah, I mean, Miles, I think you hit the nail right there on the head. And you know, to me watching Pam Bondi yesterday, not to go on a tangent about this, it was an absolute debacle. I have never seen an attorney general thumb his or her nose at the American people, at the co equal branches of government in the fashion that she did yesterday, refusing really to answer any question. And then instead of just refusing to Answer the question, which I suppose she could do. That's if she wants to do that as an Attorney general, she can. It doesn't bring glory upon her and how she's handled her job, but to personally insult, as Adam Schiff was saying, with these canned insults time and again, every single, you know, senator who was asking questions got an insult. And it just made me, I, I fear for my country that a hack like this could be in charge of the Justice Department.
- [116:28]
C
I'll say. I've never seen anything quite like it, Jim. I mean, you know, both Olivia and I have prepared cabinet secretaries for congressional testimony in very high profile hearings and never before have I sat down ahead of the time with the cabinet secretary and drafted jokes and rejoinders and political barbs to be delivered to the people conducting the oversight hearing. In fact, you could hardly think of something that would be more disrespectful to do with your committee that holds oversight, that holds the purse strings, that holds the ability to shape your apartment department, than to show up and to blast them with political talking points. It just doesn't happen. In fact, if a cabinet secretary had asked me to draft such things, I would tell them to go pound sand and go find someone else. And yet the Attorney General appeared to show up yesterday with pre scripted remarks and cutting jibes to make at the U.S. senators. And you could see that as she looked down at her notes and in some cases read them off as she was delivering them. These were not off the cuff jokes. I mean, and from that vantage point, I think it defeated whatever purpose she was trying to deliver those lines with, which would be to look like in the moment, she is clever, she is cutting. And instead she looked like Senator Schiff said someone who arrived with canned criticisms to make, which is unbecoming not only of an Attorney general, but anyone who is testifying before the United States Congress.
- [118:01]
B
Yeah, no, it's unbecoming of, of our country. It's unbecoming of what's expected when you testify in front of the United States Senate. That used to mean something in this country, used to have to behave yourself and show some respect to the process. But of course, you know, look at what we're watching right now. Donald Trump does not respect the process, does not respect our form of government in this country where you have three co equal branches of government, where you're supposed to have a justice system that operates on facts and evidence and not the whims and hurt feelings of a wannabe dictator. And just for folks who are still tuning in, we're still waiting to see if the former FBI Director, James Comey is going to speak to the media following this arraignment.
- [118:46]
E
It's pretty.
- [118:46]
D
Okay, go ahead. Sorry, I went off camera for a little bit because I was talking to some people, but I don't know if you saw the group of people. I think we caught that. That was his wife and daughter. Yeah.
- [119:00]
E
So.
- [119:01]
B
Okay, so that was his family, the small group. I think there are a couple of ladies in there, maybe a young man. They were all very tall. So that makes sense. That checks out. That was Comey's family.
- [119:14]
D
Yeah, that was his wife and daughter. They were. She was holding her hand and walked away to the garage.
- [119:20]
C
Well, and Comey is one of those tough people to miss, Jim. I mean, I can remember when he used to come up and testify on Capitol Hill before I went into the second Trump administration. He has an imposing presence. The man stands at 6 foot 8, and whenever he enters a room, grabs attention. And, you know, when you talk to current and former FBI agents, whether they agreed or disagreed with his decisions as director, they considered him to be formidable and someone who served, again across Democratic and Republican administrations. People also forget, Jim, that Comey has a long history of standing up when it's very unpopular. And again, that's why so many people caveat their conversations about James Comey by saying, well, whether you agree with him or disagree with him, because almost anyone, regardless of their political persuasion, has beef with James Comey for making a decision that they disagreed with. But I actually can't think of a more telling indicator of someone who is committed to principle than someone who's willing to equally offend both sides of the aisle and doesn't make his decisions based on partisan purposes. And we saw that as early as the Trump administration, when James Comey was the deputy or. Sorry, the Bush administration, when James Comey was the deputy Attorney general, People forget about this, as there was famously an episode where John Ashcroft, then Attorney General, was hospitalized and there was a critical renewal of an aspect of the USA Patriot act, and one that Comey and others inside the Justice Department had grown more wary about. And there's this moment where Andy Card, who was then Chief of Staff to President Bush, rushes to the hospital to try to get John Ashcroft to sign this extension, and James Comey meets him there at the hospital and basically says, no, we're not going to do it. And Ashcroft makes a stand, and Comey makes a stand. And I will tell you, since that day, James Comey has not been Terribly popular in Bush circles. He has not shown up with the rest of us at Bush reunions down in Texas. And so he made enemies there, but at the same time, he's made enemies on the left with his decisions about the investigation into Hillary Clinton and into Donald Trump. This is a man that, again, agree or disagree with those decisions, makes them on principle, and that's the type of person Donald Trump resents the most.
- [121:47]
B
Absolutely. And I think he's always probably had a problem with James Comey because he's taller than Donald Trump. You know, Donald Trump likes to tower over everybody. And I remember that famous moment when Comey walked into. I guess it was maybe their dinner or their very first meeting. I think it was at the beginning of the first Trump administration. He walked over and shook Trump's hand. Remember that one, Olivia? And Comey was towering over Donald Trump, which is not something that Donald Trump is used to. And I think he's always been kind of intimidated by that. And, you know, going back to what Miles was saying earlier about somebody who looks like they're right out of central casting, James Comey, I think, to some extent, looks like he's right out of central casting. But to Miles's point, he. He operates on principle. He may not agree with the decisions that he's made, but he operates on principle. And. And that is. That is something that Donald Trump is. Is deathly allergic to. He doesn't. He wouldn't know what if you were to.
- [122:42]
D
He doesn't understand the word.
- [122:44]
B
He couldn't find it on a map. Go ahead, Olivia.
- [122:47]
D
Yeah, he doesn't understand the word or the meaning of that in any. Any shape or form. I think you're right. I think, you know, Comey does have a stature that Donald Trump would like to aspire to, so to speak.
- [123:01]
B
No, and the other thing we should point out is if Comey's family just left a few moments ago, five minutes ago. We're now into hour two of our coverage. By the way, kudos to Olivia, kudos to Miles. I hope there's a venti latte in your future or something along some kind of caffeinated drink. But if they just left, and that I think maybe holds out the prospect that he might still be inside. I. I kind of wonder.
- [123:27]
C
We are disperse here.
- [123:30]
B
People are dispersing. Okay.
- [123:32]
C
I think they're expecting he may have left. Jim. I'll see if I can get any indicators from anyone here.
- [123:38]
B
Okay. If they're dispersing, that probably means when the Comey family left, that maybe Jim Comey went out a side entrance as he came in earlier on. And just for the folks who were just tuning in, former FBI director James Comey arraigned in the federal courthouse this morning, entered a plea of not guilty. Trial date set for January 5th. He slipped into the courthouse to a side or back entrance, probably for security reasons, but maybe for messaging reasons too. Didn't want to come out in front of the camera with a bunch of MAGA Jan6 sympathizers out there screaming at the cameras and so on. And perhaps for the same reason he's left and he's given the media the slip. I would say for one, as anti climatic as it might be for everybody, I don't blame him one bit if that's the case. Olivia?
- [124:25]
D
Yeah, no, certainly wouldn't been. Look, they've got to do what's best for this, this situation and it may be advised that he not for many reasons, whether it's security or for the case and maybe they just want to manage this in that way. So I certainly don't blame them. I, you know, we just asked around. No one seems to think he, no one has indications that he did lead. I'll leave it at that.
- [124:55]
B
But we don't know.
- [124:57]
C
It is sounding like he might have and.
- [124:59]
D
But it looks like he has.
- [125:00]
E
Yeah.
- [125:01]
C
I have to jump from our coverage here right now, Jim, but I want to say one thing in closing. First of all, I have to commend you, Jim, for covering these things so relentlessly. You have. And what we have seen today is the culmination of a 10 year, almost 10 year grievance from the President of the United States against the nation's former top law enforcement official, James Comey with the arraignment here at a federal district court courthouse in Alexandria. This is a moment, Jim, that isn't just something that's clearly affecting James Comey's family. There are many others of us that are in Donald Trump's crosshairs that know we may be having to walk into and out of courthouses like this because of his concerted effort to try to prosecute his enemies. And that's where a line was crossed today. A big line was crossed today because the president showed that regardless of what undergirds those charges against James Comey, he can use the powers of his office to coerce prosecutors to go bring cases against his enemies, get charges brought against them and bring them into the justice system as a punitive measure and not as an attempt to restore justice. This is a significant day from that standpoint and we'll be covering this as it heads towards trial in the coming months.
- [126:20]
B
Well said, Miles. Well said. I agree with everything that you just said and thank you so much for the excellent coverage this morning. You weren't, you were saying earlier that you're not a journalist, you're not a reporter. I think you might have a future in this business, young man. I think that was excellent coverage.
- [126:33]
C
Well, as long as the rule of law is in mortal danger, I will continue to do whatever I can to shine a light.
- [126:40]
B
Thank you, Miles, so much. Great job. Really appreciate it. Olivia, my goodness, the good soldier that you are at all times for this cause. Thanks for what you've done. I mean, it is, I, I, I, I can totally understand why Jim Comey and his lawyers would say, let's not say anything to prejudice this case. They may have the sense that the judge is already on their side, that the facts are on their side for sure. And so why piss off anybody in this process and say the wrong.
- [127:10]
D
I mean.
- [127:11]
E
Yeah.
- [127:11]
D
And we just saw that security disappointed. So I don't think he's coming out before makes sense that they've left. But, and honestly I am, I'm a little uncomfortable thinking that he would come out here given the security posture.
- [127:24]
E
Yeah.
- [127:25]
D
What I would say, I mean, we are surrounded by buildings. High rises.
- [127:29]
E
Yep.
- [127:30]
D
Hotels. I mean, we don't know. And I don't see anybody on the roofs here, like securing, locking the place. That's what I meant earlier when I said I, I don't know.
- [127:39]
B
That's very good point.
- [127:40]
D
Completely locked down. And so we were just talking about that and it's just. Yeah.
- [127:45]
B
In this world that we live in.
- [127:46]
D
I don't know, they're bringing them out in that courtyard and they. Yes, exactly. The world we live in. And we know some, the personalities have shown up. I just, I don't, I don't know. It did make give me pause. Well, thank you for covering this, Jen. Thank you for being relentless in the pursuit for truth and.
- [128:00]
C
Oh my gosh, no, I think it's.
- [128:02]
D
Important to be here and, you know, support others.
- [128:05]
B
Right back at you. And, and thank you for what you do and your commitment to this. I couldn't do this without you. I couldn't do this without Miles and Glenn and we're going to continue to cover this, folks. Olivia, thank you very much. I'll let you stand down and finally take a breath and, and get some rest. And the you you name the restaurant, we'll take care of it. You know, we'll Use the show budget to take care of it. But thanks, thanks.
- [128:29]
D
We'll talk soon. Take care.
- [128:30]
B
We'll talk soon. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. And my thanks to my executive producer, Matt, my producer on the ground there, Sam. Excellent coverage from their standpoint as well. Glenn, Kirschner, Miles, Olivia, it's been, it's been just fantastic coverage the whole way through, folks. Listen, I think Miles said it best. I think Olivia said it best. I think Glenn said this best. We, we witnessed, not live in the courtroom because we weren't allowed in there, but outside the courthouse, a very significant, important moment in this country where we are now seeing the very first political prosecution of Donald Trump's second term in office, his reign in Washington begin in earnest in a courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. At the Eastern District of Virginia courthouse, where the former FBI director, James Comey, one of Donald Trump's perceived political enemies, has had a trial date set for January 5th.
- [129:26]
E
5Th.
- [129:27]
B
In the trumped up case that has been brought against him, Comey entered a plea of not guilty. There have been some procedural hearings set by the judge in the case over the next couple of months, but if you look at the date where we stand today in January 5th, there's about three months to go before this trial gets started. If it gets going as Glenn Kershner was saying earlier on. Comey's defense team signaled during this arraignment that they plan a very aggressive defense of the former FBI director that they're going to be challenging on just about every legal ground possible, the legitimacy of this case. They're going to call attention to the fact that this is very much a political prosecution that has been directed by Donald Trump through his public and private statements. And so we're going to be following this every step of the way. And as Miles and Olivia said, we are going to be relentless about this, ladies and gentlemen. We are going to be relentless every step of the way, at every moment, at every turn. If our democracy is going to be on the line, if our judicial system, our system of justice in this country is going to be on the line, if it is going to be warped and taken advantage of by, by an outof control president of the United States, we are absolutely going to be relentless at every moment. So when James Comey goes back into court in November, we're going to be covering it. When he goes back into court, presumably in December, if the case hasn't been thrown out there, we're going to be covering it. And so we're going to do the best to our ability as our little team here can do to cover this relentlessly. It is about being relentless at this, folks, at this point, folks. And I'm going to repeat something that we heard earlier from one of the protesters outside the courthouse. Earlier today, our Miles Taylor was talking to one of the protesters outside the courthouse. And this is what that protester said. The protester said, quote, fear is contagious, but so is courage. Fear is contagious, but so is courage. Make sure you stay strong as you watch these developments. As Bizarro World, as Twilight Zone seeming as it is. You have to stay relentless. You have to show courage. You have to show resolve when our democracy is under attack, ladies and gentlemen, that's what we're going to do here to the best of our abilities. That's what we're going to do here. My thanks to Everybody for watching 2 hours and 12 minutes of coverage. Hope you got something out of it. My thanks to Miles, Olivia, Glenn, Matt and Sam. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a great rest of your day. See you soon.
- [132:24]
A
You were asked, did career prosecutors find insufficient evidence to charge James Comey? You refuse to answer that question.