Fox News got an unusual reality check Thursday night when media critic Howard Kurtz broke from the network’s usual line. Sitting on Special Report, Kurtz didn’t dance around it. He flat out said the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey was “completely and totally orchestrated” by Donald Trump (Watch it here.) According to Kurtz, the president pushed out a U.S. attorney in Virginia who had refused to bring the case, then slotted in a loyalist whose job was to make sure Comey got charged.
The indictment had landed just hours earlier. A grand jury hit Comey with two counts, one for making a false statement to Congress and another for obstructing a congressional proceeding. The charges come from testimony during the Russia investigation years ago, when Comey’s account and his deputy’s account didn’t perfectly line up. That discrepancy has already been reviewed by the inspector general, who concluded there was no clear lie. But Trump kept pressing, and on Thursday, he finally got the result he wanted.
On Truth Social, the President celebrated like it was a campaign win: “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI.”
Not everyone on Fox was impressed. Legal analyst Andrew McCarthy told Maria Bartiromo the next day that the case looked flimsy and might not survive in court. Other lawyers have been just as skeptical, calling the charges more of a political hit job than a serious legal argument.
Kurtz, who once covered the Justice Department, reminded viewers that in any other White House, even a hint of political meddling in a criminal case would have sparked a scandal. “Here, Trump didn’t just hint,” Kurtz explained. “He fired his own appointee, installed a loyal aide, and made sure Comey was charged.”
For his part, Comey says he’s ready to fight. He issued a short statement denying all wrongdoing and stressing that he trusts the courts to sort things out. Former DOJ officials, civil libertarians, and plenty of critics see the case as Trump’s revenge for Comey refusing to bow to pressure during the Russia probe. Supporters argue it’s simple: no one should be above the law, not even a former FBI director.
The move has raised eyebrows across the political spectrum. When one Fox host is admitting the whole thing was orchestrated, and another Fox analyst doubts the charges will stick, you know it’s not business as usual. The bigger worry is the precedent, if a president can handpick prosecutors to go after his rivals, what stops the next president from doing the exact same thing?
Trump wanted Comey indicted, and now he is. Fox News hosts are admitting the strings were pulled, legal experts think the case is weak, and Comey says he’ll fight it in court. Whether the indictment holds or falls apart, the damage to the Justice Department’s reputation is already done, and the sight of the president openly celebrating charges against his old nemesis is a story all on its own.
