On Friday’s RealClearPolitics radio show, Andrew Walworth, Tom Bevan, and Carl Cannon discuss the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, reports that the Justice Department is investigating the Open Society Foundation, and the latest government funding deadline as Senate Democrats clash with Republicans over a temporary bill to extend the deadline. Plus, President Trump’s attendance at this year’s Ryder Cup golf tournament and our favorite stories of the week in RCP’s “You Cannot Be Serious?!” roundup. Finally, attorney and RCP contributor Richard Porter joins the guys to discuss the legal strategy behind the James Comey indictment and what happens next in the trial of the former FBI Director. And finally, the guys chat about their favorite stories in this week’s You Cannot Be Serious segment. You can listen to the show weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** First, James Comey has become the first former FBI Director to face federal indictment, charged with lying to Congress and obstruction of justice. President Trump called Comey, among other things, “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to,” and a “dirty cop.” Has he hopelessly politicized the case, or is Trump just responding in kind to how the Democrats treated him? “The weaponization of the Justice Department was done earlier, and it was done to Donald Trump. Revenge is not noble, but it’s human,” Carl Cannon said. “I don’t think Trump ought to be talking about this case the way he is, but for Democrats to say this is unprecedented-well, they did it themselves to Trump three years ago.” “We’ll see what happens, but I think it is clear that Comey did lie to Congress,” Tom Bevan commented. *** Around minute 8, the conversation turns to the Open Society Foundation, the center of a vast network of politically involved nonprofit advocacy groups founded by Hungarian billionaire George Soros. Trump alleges some of these groups have financial connections to violent groups like Antifa, and the DOJ is reportedly taking a serious look. “There’s no question Soros has been deeply involved in our politics,” Bevan said. “I don’t have a problem with looking into the Open Society Foundations to see if everything they’re doing-all the hundreds of millions they’ve spent on elections and our politics-has been above board. It should be.” “Antifa is an anarchist organization committed to violence. They don’t have a coherent political philosophy except to make trouble, but they’re on the left,” Cannon said. “But I don’t know of any evidence that George Soros’s organization has given them one penny. For Trump to make these loose accusations and this innuendo-I think it’s very troubling.” Andrew Walworth said he supports the “follow the money” adage, and any funding of Antifa should be pursued, but warns of a chilling effect on legal political activity. “When the government launches an investigation into you, it is terribly debilitating,” he said. “It makes people less willing to go out on a limb and involve themselves in politics.” *** In the next segment, around minute 14, the Senate is racing yet again to avert a “government shutdown” next week. The Hill is reporting that “cracks are beginning to form” in their ranks, as Senate Democrats continue to oppose a seven-week funding stopgap passed by House Republicans. This time, the Trump administration is threatening to fire as many government workers as they possibly can in the event of a shutdown. Republicans need eight Democrats to jump ship to pass the bill. “Eight seems like a big number,” Bevan commented. “Maybe Jeanne Shaheen, maybe John Fetterman-so that’s two. But beyond that…” “If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve seen this movie before-in 2011, 2014, whenever. Republicans took a real beating when they shut the government down. Democrats went out of their way to make it as painful as possible for Republicans and did a pretty good job. Now the tables have turned,” he said. Trump’s strategy is a “new, more lethal version of what happened in the old DOGE days,” Bevan said. “Most people understand that if the government shuts down, people have to be laid off. Trump is making the threat that they’ll be laid off and then not come back. I think that’s changing the conversation.” *** On a lighter note, around minute 22, President Trump was in Long Island today for the Ryder Cup golf tournament, and then around minute 40 the gang gives their picks for this week’s “You Can Not Be Serious?!” roundup of outrageous headlines. *** Finally, at minute 24, attorney and RCP contributor Richard Porter joins the guys to discuss the legal strategy behind the James Comey indictment and what happens next if the former FBI director takes it to trial. “It’s certainly highly unusual for the president to be commenting on a specific case. But this case is ultimately about Trump too, right?” Porter said. “The issue is that the FBI director worked with the then-sitting president to try to concoct criminal charges against the incoming president — and then lied to Congress about it.” “Prosecutions rarely occur where what’s really at stake is an attempt to overthrow the presidency.” “First, the venue is the Eastern District of Virginia, not D.C., where Congress sits. Because of COVID, Comey’s testimony on September 30, 2020, was via Zoom from his home. That’s why the Eastern District is proper,” he explained. “Second, the case is really about the meaning of ‘authorized.’ So this is a case like ‘what the meaning of is is,’ the hair-splitting lawyers love to do. Did Comey authorize leaks from the FBI before or after the fact? McCabe testified that he did leak information and told Comey, and Comey seemed to concur. Does authorization have to occur beforehand, or is after-the-fact approval enough? That’s the hair-splitting.” “In plain language, Comey and McCabe were working together to try to bring down the president. The Senate was investigating Crossfire Hurricane-the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe. Comey pretended everything was fine and denied authorizing leaks to The New York Times.” *** Don’t miss an episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
RealClearPolitics Videos