Trump’s Case Against Comey Is Imploding—and Handing Dems a New Weapon |
Trump’s Case Against Comey Is Imploding—and Handing Dems a New Weapon
The Comey indictment is totally baseless. The question, which Democrats are now exploring, is how such prosecutions can be stopped.
Here’s a simple thought experiment for you. The Justice Department, as you know, is prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime foe of Donald Trump. Now imagine if acting Attorney General Todd Blanche remarked to a colleague: “I know this prosecution is nonsense on the facts and the law, but I’m pursuing it anyway, purely because Trump ordered me to—and because it will induce Trump to make me permanent AG.”
Would that be illegal or unlawful on Blanche’s part? Would Blanche be subject to sanctions or accountability? The answers turn out to be complicated. And right now, Democrats are starting to think them through. Because if they win back one or both chambers of Congress, passing DOJ reform will be critical as part of an agenda to “fascism-proof” the system against future authoritarian presidents.
“We’re going to explore whether there’s a way to prohibit this,” Senator Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who has also been targeted by Trump, told me in an interview, speaking of Trump’s prosecutions of Comey and other enemies. “There has to be a lawful, constitutional way.”
Blanche’s quotes on NBC News over the weekend about the Comey prosecution underscored the urgency of this for Democrats. The DOJ is prosecuting Comey for allegedly threatening the president, based on his social media posting of an image of seashells arranged to spell “86 47,” which doesn’t remotely meet the statutory requirement for such a threat to be chargeable.
Blanche acknowledged in that NBC appearance that “86 47” is commonplace and that others using it on social media or to sell merchandise won’t be prosecuted. “That’s posted constantly,” he admitted. But he insisted that the phrase is only “part of” the case against Comey, suggesting that 11 months of investigation—Comey’s post came last........