Trump DOJ Indictment FALLS COMPLETELY APART at Press Conference

[0:00] Don't worry about former FBI Director James Comey. [0:02] He's going to be just fine. [0:04] If this seashell by the seashore indictment is the best that the Department of Justice [0:10] and FBI can come up with after a year of investigation, a jokey, sarcastic, parody [0:20] posting of seashells arranged on a beach, if that's the best they can do for the indictment, [0:28] then the lawyer that represents James Comey should get down on his knees, go light a candle [0:33] and say, hallelujah, this is all they got. [0:37] I don't think this indictment, which I now have a copy of, gets passed a motion to dismiss [0:43] in front of the judge who's been appointed a George Bush appointee at all. [0:48] This is vindictive prosecution at its finest, and the lawyers will take it from there. [0:55] Wait till you hear what Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche trying to do the limbo of how [1:01] low he can go in order to get the big job, what he says about the indictment. [1:08] And Kash Patel put down his lawsuit to try to prove that he's not a public drunk just long [1:15] enough, coming off of an assassination attempt two days ago to declare, we got our man. [1:21] The FBI is back in the game, everybody. [1:24] We got our groove back, former FBI director James Comey, while he was walking a beach in [1:29] the Outer Banks of North Carolina, saw some seashells on a beach. [1:34] And we're going to misinterpret that as a death threat against the president after hard sleuthing, [1:39] kind of hard sleuthing. [1:40] It was one picture posted on social media and taken down a year ago. [1:45] How inept is the FBI? [1:47] I'll answer that question and more here on Legal AF. [1:51] I'm Michael Popak. [1:52] Take a minute, hit the free subscribe button. [1:54] All right, got my hands on the indictment, such as it is. [1:58] So let's break it down for a minute. [2:01] Former FBI director James Comey used to be an FBI director for Donald Trump. [2:07] Donald Trump fired him because he wouldn't take a loyalty test. [2:11] FBI director James Comey was investigating friends of Donald Trump like Michael Flynn. [2:17] And he wouldn't call off the dogs and stop doing the investigation, so he got camped. [2:24] Trump has had it out for him ever since. [2:27] Gone after the former CIA director under Obama, John O'Brennan. [2:33] Going after the former FBI director in James Comey. [2:36] About five months ago, he tried to get James Comey indicted by a novice prosecutor, no longer [2:43] in the Department of Justice named Lindsey Halligan, in the Eastern District of Virginia, [2:48] because he testified truthfully under oath to a question from Ted Cruz about whether and [2:54] who was the source of a leak and whether and how investigations about Hillary Clinton were [3:01] being conducted. [3:02] Okay, they got the indictment. [3:04] The indictment was kicked, thrown out by a federal judge named Judge Curry, who ruled that [3:11] Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed, and that indictment was not worth the paper it [3:15] was written on. [3:17] We thought that what would happen next is they tried to re-indict him under the same grounds, [3:22] but they ran out of time because the five-year statute of limitations ran. [3:25] Then we thought they would turn to some combination of Washington and Florida through the grand conspiracy [3:32] investigation being led by MAGA-MAGA extremists to go after Donald Trump's political enemies [3:38] and get them indicted, and that's how they're going to go after Brennan and go after Comey. [3:43] No, it had to do with a May 15, 2025 posting. [3:49] As James Comey was walking the beach with his wife, I think, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, [3:55] he stumbled across a formation of seashells, which, by the way, they don't even replicate [4:02] in the indictment. [4:04] It doesn't even pass the straight face test. [4:05] They were like, well, let's not put up the picture of what we say he did because it looks [4:10] so ridiculous, but we'll put up the picture. [4:13] Put up the picture of the social media post, shall we? [4:16] 86-47, okay? [4:18] And then a comment by Comey, which was obviously rhetorical commentary, a joke that, isn't this [4:27] an interesting message I found on the beach or something like that? [4:29] He didn't even do the shells himself. [4:33] It's just Comey selling seashells down by the seashore, right? [4:36] All right, so who cares? [4:38] So at the time, they opened up an investigation with the Secret Service as to whether that [4:42] was a death threat against the president. [4:43] All right, let's break it down. [4:45] 86 and 47. [4:47] 47 is the president number for Donald Trump a second time around. [4:51] 86 is a term of art from the hospitality and restaurant business, which I was in. [4:57] I worked in fast food when I was a teenager. [5:00] I worked in luncheonettes and diners and in what they call them, smart casual restaurants [5:07] when I was in law school. [5:09] 86 is a communication between the front of the house and the back of the house that they're [5:14] out of something in the back. [5:16] 86, the potato salad. [5:18] 86, the french fries. [5:20] 86, the root beer. [5:22] They're out of it. [5:23] 86 is not a code word for assassinate the president. [5:30] And even if it was in the context of the social media post that people laughed at, it would [5:37] never survive the United States Supreme Court ruling in U.S. versus Watson from the 1960s, [5:44] which is the standard by which all threats against a president are measured. [5:48] It separates expression under the First Amendment, which is protected speech from actual actionable [5:56] threats against a president done with willfulness and criminal mind and criminal intent to qualify [6:02] as a crime under Title 18 of the U.S. [6:06] code. [6:09] I mean, talk about a humorless party. [6:12] You know, Bill Maher jokes about Laura Loomer maybe effing and zooming the president. [6:17] Oh, it's defamation. [6:19] No, it's rhetorical. [6:21] It's a rhetorical joke. [6:25] Jimmy Kimmel, two days before the White House Correspondents Dinner, says that Melania, because [6:32] he's doing a fake roast, saying, oh, Melania looks like a blushing future widow. [6:36] Nothing to do with threats against the president. [6:39] It had to do with her age difference with Donald Trump. [6:42] Hadn't she noticed? [6:43] Even though she's got herself preserved pretty well. [6:45] Look at Donald Trump. [6:46] Oh, no, humorless Republicans, Melania Trump crawls out of the crypt and starts demanding [6:53] the head of Jimmy Kimmel. [6:54] And right on cue, the Federal Communications Commission goes after Jimmy Kimmel once again [6:59] for being a comic, for being a comedian, for being sardonic and sarcastic, which takes [7:07] us to the indictment, which frankly didn't even pass the straight face test at the press [7:12] conference. [7:13] Do you want the people to believe that the shell formation in a social media post shows [7:18] willfulness to threaten the president as outlined in the indictment? [7:23] Here's the clip of Todd Blanche, who, again, is trying to demonstrate how low he will grovel [7:31] in this massive game of limbo. [7:34] How low will he go and sacrifice whatever morals he ever had and ethics he ever had to try [7:40] to get the top job as the attorney general? [7:42] Here's him bragging about the sleuthing that went into the social media post. [7:48] What was the sleuthing? [7:50] Did you talk to the mollusks? [7:54] You talk to the people on the beach? [7:56] Play the clip. [7:57] At a place where we can definitively say, to the extent we can definitively say, we will [8:02] let you know. [8:04] Director Comey posted this almost a year ago. [8:07] Why bring this case now? [8:08] Did you always feel like this was a strong prosecution or did something change recently? [8:13] This investigation just didn't come now. [8:15] It's the result of a lot of work by law enforcement over the past year. [8:20] We don't time when we bring cases around anything other than when the investigation is at a place [8:25] where we should go to the grand jury. [8:27] And that's exactly what we did in this case as well. [8:31] As a former FBI director. [8:34] And if that doesn't fill you full of confidence, and these are all going to be exhibits used [8:38] by Donald Trump's lawyers in the inevitable motion to dismiss and for vindictive prosecution [8:44] motion, which I'm sure is already written right now. [8:48] And then you have Kash Patel. [8:50] Does anything about Kash Patel give you confidence? [8:54] He just allowed a White House correspondence dinner to take place in what his own client, [9:00] Donald Trump, admitted was an unsecure location and put two thirds of the chain of succession [9:06] to the presidency all in the room at the same time. [9:09] And now this guy stands up and says, oh, it's hard work at the FBI. [9:14] Again, the entire indictment is based on a social media posting of somebody else posing [9:20] arranging shells in an 86-47 pattern and Comey commenting on it. [9:27] OK, play that clip. [9:29] As you heard from the attorney general, the U.S. [9:31] attorney, former FBI director James Comey has now been indicted for two felony counts. [9:36] While many of you may read this indictment and view this matter as a simple investigation, [9:40] it is the farthest thing from that. [9:42] Every single investigation this FBI and our partners at the Department of Justice undertake, [9:46] especially those that involve the threats to harm or hurt or even kill individuals, [9:51] whether they behold public office or civilians in our country, are met with the same measure [9:56] of investigative prowess and tools and personnel in partnership with the Department of Justice [10:00] as anyone else. [10:01] As the U.S. [10:02] attorney indicated, James Comey will be afforded every matter of due process under the United [10:06] States Constitution. [10:07] And as the attorney general indicated, this has been a case that's been investigated over [10:11] the past 9, 10, 11 months. [10:14] These cases take time. [10:16] Our investigators work methodically. [10:18] They are career agents, career prosecutors who work these matters. [10:22] They call the balls and strikes in the field as they see fit pursuant to the facts of the [10:26] case in the law. [10:27] They took that information and made a presentment to a grand jury. [10:31] The jury appears in the district in which the alleged crime took place. [10:34] And that grand jury spoke, and that grand jury returned a two-count indictment against James [10:40] Comey. [10:40] Now, of course, James Comey has fired back the night he got indicted the first time. [10:47] He took to social media. [10:49] He took the substack in social media again, and good for him, he should. [10:53] Here's James Comey fighting back against the indictment already played James Comey. [10:58] Well, they're back. [11:00] This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. [11:05] And this won't be the end of it. [11:08] But nothing has changed with me. [11:10] I'm still innocent. [11:12] I'm still not afraid. [11:14] And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. [11:17] So let's go. [11:19] But it's really important that all of us remember this is not who we are as a country. [11:24] This is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be. [11:28] And the good news is we get closer every day to restoring those values. [11:34] Keep the faith. [11:34] So let's get to the indictment, shall we, such as it is. [11:39] It is, I'm not kidding you. [11:40] It is literally two pages. [11:43] Actually, probably a page and three quarters. [11:47] It was rendered by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Eastern Division. [11:53] Obviously, shell collectors and the haters, haters of long walks on the beaches of North Carolina, because that's where this occurred. [12:03] Here's what it says in the indictment. [12:06] This is going to be posted in Legal AF Substack for you to read. [12:09] On or about May 15, 2025, in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the defendant did knowingly and willfully. [12:16] Hold on to those terms, because you need knowing and willful conduct, mens rea, criminal intent to justify a crime, as opposed to First Amendment expression. [12:28] To make a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States. [12:35] Is that what you're doing when you yell out, 86, the onion rings? [12:39] You're trying to inflict bodily harm or take the life of the onion rings? [12:44] And that he publicly posted a photograph on the Internet, social media site, Instagram, which depicted seashells arranged in a pattern making out 86, 47. [12:54] Which a reasonable recipient, who is familiar with the circumstances, would interpret as a serious expression of intent to do harm to the president of the United States. [13:06] And that it was a communication that contained a threat to kill Donald Trump by the public posting. [13:15] Okay, put this aside now for a minute. [13:18] Thank you. [13:19] There is a case from the 1960s involving Lyndon Johnson and a purported threat that the Department of Justice went after. [13:26] It's called Watson v. the U.S. [13:28] And Watson, Watson didn't want to be drafted. [13:32] And he said, if I was drafted, the first person he's going to put in his sights, his rifle sights, was going to be Lyndon Johnson. [13:42] Okay? [13:42] The Department of Justice, Secret Service Investigative Department of Justice brings the indictment. [13:47] And they bring it up to the U.S. Supreme Court, who defines in this landmark case, what's the difference between an actual threat and being sardonic or a joke, including context matters, including people laughing like they did with this Lyndon Johnson threat out loud. [14:06] And we all did when we saw James Comey and his posting. [14:09] That matters because that separates freedom of expression, First Amendment right from an actual threat to do harm against the president. [14:22] What's the actual threat? [14:23] He's going to pick up the shells and throw it at him from North Carolina? [14:28] Is it a photo? [14:29] I mean, it'd be different if it was like a photo of James Comey, you know, like whittling a spear with a knife or cleaning a gun. [14:38] And saying, thinking of you, 47, all right, okay, that would at least pass the straight face test. [14:45] But this, this doesn't pass the Watson test. [14:50] And here's what I'm going to do if I'm the lawyer for James Comey, who is James Fitzgerald. [15:01] I would immediately make a motion to dismiss and quash this indictment under the grounds that it violates the United States Supreme Court precedent, that it is a, it is violates the First Amendment, that it is, it is beyond bad faith in its vindictiveness and for malicious and vindictive prosecution. [15:24] And I would do that now. [15:27] And don't wait. [15:28] It's too much waiting when it comes to taking on Donald Trump. [15:32] He picked the wrong former FBI director, I assure you, in James Comey. [15:38] Now, I haven't agreed with everything James Comey's ever done in his career. [15:40] But I will defend with my last dying breath his right to be, to not have to be subjected to phony indictments and false indictments using the great weight and power of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Donald Trump. [15:55] It's wrong. [15:57] It's an assault on our way of life, on our patriotism, on our First Amendment rights. [16:03] And if Donald Trump and his thin-skinned wife can't take a joke and don't like First Amendment expression, then they picked the wrong business and the wrong presidential office to occupy. [16:15] Continue to follow it all. [16:17] You're going to want, this is a fast-moving story. [16:19] Stay here on Legal AF for it. [16:20] Stay here on Legal AF Substack for it. [16:23] Become a member of both. [16:24] Until my next report, this is Michael Popak. [16:28] Can't get your fill of Legal AF? [16:30] Me neither. [16:30] That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. [16:33] Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. [16:39] You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF. [16:47] What else? [16:47] All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. [16:50] We got some new reporting. [16:51] We got interviews. [16:52] We got ad-free versions of the podcast. [16:55] And hot takes, wear Legal AF on Substack. [17:00] Come over now to free subscribe.