Nicolle Wallace didn’t hold back when she slammed James Comey’s indictment as a major red flag for democracy.
On Friday’s episode of “Deadline: White House,” Wallace broke down Comey’s indictment and how it is the latest bleak shot fired from President Donald Trump’s administration to target his political enemies. She warned that the “health of democracy” was being tested.
“He can force out a U.S. attorney with sterling Republican credentials and relationships in MAGA Republican circles … who refused to bring the case against Comey – until he finds that weak link, one who says yes, and gets an indictment of a critic he’s been obsessed with for years in a matter of days. The indictment of Jim Comey: a flashing red warning sign for the health of democracy and the rule of law in the United States.”
Ken Dilanian, a justice and intelligence correspondent at MSNBC, joined Wallace on the program to provide new updates on the state of things as Comey’s indictment continued to rattle the political world.
“I’ve just confirmed from a source familiar that the underlying – the main allegation of lying to Congress in this indictment – has to do with the allegation that James Comey told his, or lied about whether he told his friend Dan Richman, who was at the time a special government employee at the FBI,” he said. “Whether he authorized him to be an anonymous source for reporters about stories about an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton.”
He added: “That sort of goes against what we thought this indictment was about, and it raises this question – because we don’t know what the evidence is that the government has supporting their allegation that James Comey lied to Congress.”
In his first public statement since the indictment, Comey asserted that he is innocent. The former FBI director was indicted on one count for giving a false statement and on one count of obstruction of justice. Both charges were related to his September 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” the former FBI director said in an Instagram video Thursday. “Let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”
He added: ““My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. I’m not afraid, and I hope you’re not either. I hope instead, you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it which it does.”
