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DOJ Drops the Hammer on James Comey Facing NEW Espionage Act Charges · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

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  Speaker 1: And John Ossoff personally sponsored a bill to bring armies
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  Speaker 1: of migrants from terror-infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia.
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  Speaker 1: Remember what I called them? So they talked about Somalia,
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  Speaker 1: bringing people in from Somalia, bringing people in. from all
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  Speaker 1: these terrible places, Somalia. You know, 98% of the people
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  Speaker 1: that we have here now in Somalia don't work. They
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  Speaker 1: don't really have to work because they steal so much.
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  Speaker 1: They all have a Mercedes-Benz.
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  Speaker 2: You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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  Speaker 3: Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on
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  Speaker 3: the 47 Morning Update. And we've got one massive story
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  Speaker 3: for you. The ex-FBI director, James Comey, has now been
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  Speaker 3: charged with federal crimes in a brand new case. Now,
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  Speaker 3: this third case has been filed by the DOJ against him,
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  Speaker 3: and it is significant.
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  Speaker 4: What does it involve?
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  Speaker 3: I explain it all to you. Plus, there's another case
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  Speaker 3: that's pending as well. And we'll let you know where
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  Speaker 3: that case is in the process also. But before we
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  Speaker 3: get to that, what we're seeing in France should send
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  Speaker 3: a chill down the spine of every American. Violence in
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  Speaker 3: the streets, a synagogue ransacked in Paris, Jewish families wondering
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  Speaker 3: whether their children will be safe. And you better understand something.
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  Speaker 3: America is not immune to this hatred either. Anti-Semitic attacks
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  Speaker 3: are at a record level, not only in France, but
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  Speaker 3: also all across Europe and our nation and our cities.
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  Speaker 3: We cannot wait until the danger gets worse to stand
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  Speaker 3: with our Jewish neighbors. And that's why I'm asking you
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  Speaker 3: to support the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. The
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  Speaker 3: You can donate now to the International Fellowship of Christians
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  Speaker 3: and Jews because standing against anti-Semitism isn't just about France
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  Speaker 3: or Israel. It's here in the U.S. and on the
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  Speaker 3: midterm election ballot. Visit their website.
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  Speaker 4: One word.
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  Speaker 3: GiveIFCJ.org. That's GiveIFCJ.org. It's the 47 Morning Update, and it
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  Speaker 3: starts right now.
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  Speaker 2: Story number one.
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  Speaker 4: There is breaking news.
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  Speaker 3: Former FBI director, the same guy that went after Donald
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  Speaker 3: Trump and weaponized the FBI, the guy who bragged about
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  Speaker 3: having a couple guys go down to the Situation Room
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  Speaker 3: to try to entrap people of his administration in his
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  Speaker 3: first term as president, James Comey, has now been charged
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  Speaker 3: with leaking national defense information. This is obviously very big
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  Speaker 3: breaking news. And this time we're talking about these new allegations.
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  Speaker 3: It involves national security, something that he says he's always
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  Speaker 3: been about. And apparently the real possibility that classified information
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  Speaker 3: was disclosed in an illegal disclosure of, quote, sensitive government
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  Speaker 3: intelligence to specifically, you ready for this, the mainstream media.
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  Speaker 3: The United States Department of Justice has now pursued criminal
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  Speaker 3: charges against James Comey, not for the first time, not
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  Speaker 3: for the second time, but now this is the third
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  Speaker 3: time since Donald Trump returned to the White House. And
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  Speaker 3: here's what makes this latest development particularly significant. The prosecutors
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  Speaker 3: are now accusing the former director of the FBI, the
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  Speaker 3: man literally that we once entrusted with protecting some of
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  Speaker 3: America's most sensitive secrets, of unlawfully transmitting national defense information, quote,
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  Speaker 3: to someone who was not authorized to receive it.
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  Speaker 4: This is the man, I'll say it.
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  Speaker 3: Again because it's important, who once led the FBI, whose
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  Speaker 3: job included investigating people that are suspected of mishandling classified information,
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  Speaker 3: is now himself the subject of the federal allegations involving
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  Speaker 3: the exact same thing that he said others shouldn't do. Now,
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  Speaker 3: according to the court, documents have now been made public.
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  Speaker 3: Federal prosecutors say not only are they pursuing this, but
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  Speaker 3: it is two different criminal counts. Now, the first alleges
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  Speaker 3: that James Comey knowingly and willfully transmitted national defense information
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  Speaker 3: to an unauthorized person. The second allegation alleges that Comey
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  Speaker 3: conspired with others to unlawfully disclose that information.
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  Speaker 4: Now, why is this significant?
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  Speaker 3: Well, both allegations fall under the Espionage Act, and that
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  Speaker 3: is serious business. Now, I want to also be clear,
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  Speaker 3: this is not an allegation that Comey was working for
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  Speaker 3: a foreign government, which is usually what the Espionage Act
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  Speaker 3: is used for, okay? It is not about that, or
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  Speaker 3: selling American secrets to our enemies. That is not what
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  Speaker 3: this is about, and I think that's important. What it
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  Speaker 3: is about, prosecutors say, is that James Comey improperly caused
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  Speaker 3: sensitive national security information to be shared with a journalist.
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  Speaker 3: And the incident allegedly happened almost exactly 10 years ago,
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  Speaker 3: October the 5th of 2016. That's when the New York
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  Speaker 3: Times published a story involving Yahoo and a government surveillance program. Now,
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  Speaker 3: according to federal prosecutors, Comey directed members of his staff
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  Speaker 3: to communicate with the New York Times reporter, Charlie Savage,
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  Speaker 3: to correct information that had appeared in an earlier Reuters report.
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  Speaker 3: Prosecutors allege that in the process, national defense information was
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  Speaker 3: illegally disclosed. Now, that is why this actually matters. Because
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  Speaker 3: there's a significant difference between a government official explaining an
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  Speaker 3: agency's position to a reporter and that official authorizing disclosure
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  Speaker 3: of information protected by federal national security laws.
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  Speaker 4: Prosecutors, by the way, are accusing.
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  Speaker 3: And they are saying that this conduct crossed that important line. Now,
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  Speaker 3: James Comey and his attorneys are strongly disputing these allegations.
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  Speaker 3: And then there's also other major legal issues. Now, let
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  Speaker 3: me also remind you that the Justice Department filed what's
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  Speaker 3: called a Criminal Information Act on October the 5th of 2026.
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  Speaker 3: That is a formal charging document filed by prosecutors, but
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  Speaker 3: is not the same thing as a grand jury indictment.
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  Speaker 3: The government says it used this procedure to preserve the
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  Speaker 3: case before the 10-year statute of limitations expired. Comey's attorneys
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  Speaker 3: argue that the filing was legally insufficient and that the
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  Speaker 3: prosecutors needed to obtain an indictment within the deadline. That
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  Speaker 3: means a federal judge may have to decide whether the
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  Speaker 3: case will even move forward, and that's also important, and
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  Speaker 3: James Comey's hoping it works out to his favor. Because
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  Speaker 3: this is now the third time that the Justice Department
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  Speaker 3: has attempted to bring a federal criminal case against James Comey. Now,
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  Speaker 3: let's also go back and revisit the other cases because
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  Speaker 3: that's important for context. The first case allegedly was about
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  Speaker 3: him lying to Congress. You got to go back to
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  Speaker 3: September of 2025. And that was when federal prosecutors first
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  Speaker 3: obtained an indictment against Comey during President Trump's second administration.
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  Speaker 3: And the charge involved two serious allegations. One, making false
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  Speaker 3: statements to Congress.
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  Speaker 4: And obstructing a congressional proceeding.
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  Speaker 3: The case centered on Comey's testimony about whether he had
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  Speaker 3: authorized someone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous.
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  Speaker 4: Source for journalists.
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  Speaker 3: Federal prosecutors alleged that Comey had made a false statement
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  Speaker 3: about his involvement in authorizing disclosures to the media. Now,
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  Speaker 3: consider the significance of that allegation. We're literally talking about
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  Speaker 3: the former director of the FBI, an agency responsible for
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  Speaker 3: investigating federal crimes, being accused of lying during the congressional testimony.
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  Speaker 3: The Justice Department argued that nobody, regardless of their position
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  Speaker 3: or previous government service, should be above the law.
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  Speaker 4: Comey, of course, denied any wrongdoing at all.
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  Speaker 3: And then that is where the story really took an
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  Speaker 3: interesting turn, because a federal judge dismissed that case. Not
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  Speaker 3: because a jury determined Comey was innocent, not because a
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  Speaker 3: jury heard all the evidence and acquitted him. The judge
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  Speaker 3: dismissed the prosecution because of a legal problem involving the
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  Speaker 3: appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case overall. That
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  Speaker 3: prosecutor was Lindsay Halligan. The judge concluded that Lindsay had
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  Speaker 3: been unlawfully appointed to the position of United States Attorney,
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  Speaker 3: and therefore, the judge said, she lacked the authority necessary
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  Speaker 3: to obtain the indictment. Now, the Justice Department, of course,
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  Speaker 3: appealed that decision. So the first criminal case did not
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  Speaker 3: result in a conviction. Instead, it was dismissed over the
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  Speaker 3: legality of the prosecutor's appointment.
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  Speaker 4: And that, again, is a distinction that you need to understand.
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  Speaker 3: Now, dismissal based on the prosecutor's authority is very different
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  Speaker 3: than a jury determining whether the underlying allegations are true
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  Speaker 3: or false. It's, again, also a significant legal defeat for
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  Speaker 3: the government. And, of course, James Comey celebrated that because
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  Speaker 3: the case was then thrown out. That brought us to
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  Speaker 3: case number two. And that was another controversy. In April
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  Speaker 3: of 2026, the Justice Department brought that other case against
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  Speaker 3: James Comey. And this one involved a social media post. Now,
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  Speaker 3: you may remember when this happened. Comey posted a photo.
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  Speaker 3: showing seashells arranged to spell out the numbers 8647. Now,
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  Speaker 3: 47 is in reference to Donald Trump, the 47th president
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  Speaker 3: of the United States of America.
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  Speaker 4: You understand that.
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  Speaker 3: You may not know that the number 86 can mean
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  Speaker 3: to remove or get rid of something. In certain contexts,
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  Speaker 3: it can also be used as a reference to, quote,
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  Speaker 3: kill someone or killing someone. Now, federal prosecutors allege that
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  Speaker 3: Comey's post constituted an unlawful threat against the president. A
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  Speaker 3: federal grand jury in North Carolina returned an indictment containing
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  Speaker 3: two counts, one alleging a threat against the president, the
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  Speaker 3: other alleging the transmission of a threatening communication across state lines. Now,
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  Speaker 3: the Justice Department argued that the circumstances surrounding the message
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  Speaker 3: made it a serious threat. Comey maintained that he did
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  Speaker 3: not intend to threaten violence against the president. He said
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  Speaker 3: the image was, quote, meant as a, you know, political message.
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  Speaker 3: And again, he says no big deal. What is secure conviction?
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  Speaker 3: Prosecutors must establish the required element of the offense.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: That he actually did this with the intent of threatening
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  Speaker 3: the president. And you have to include all the applicable
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  Speaker 3: legal standards concerning the defendant's state of mind. The case,
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  Speaker 3: by the way, remains pending as we speak. Comey has
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  Speaker 3: obviously not been convicted. But this is what makes all
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  Speaker 3: of this truly extraordinary. Within roughly 13 months, the Justice
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  Speaker 3: Department has pursued three separate federal criminal cases against the
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  Speaker 3: former director of the FBI. And the allegations span three
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  Speaker 3: different areas. Statements to Congress, number one. An alleged threat
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  Speaker 3: against the president, number two. And now with the newest,
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  Speaker 3: the alleged unlawful disclosure of national defense information. Now, this
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  Speaker 3: third case I go back to because I do think
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  Speaker 3: it is really important. There are several major questions. Can
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  Speaker 3: prosecutors successfully overcome the statute of limitations challenge?
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  Speaker 4: That's going to be the biggest hurdle.
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  Speaker 3: Then there's the alleged disclosure that occurred in October of 2016.
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  Speaker 3: Then the Justice Department filed its criminal information 10 years later.
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  Speaker 4: That's going to be a problem, some say already.
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  Speaker 3: And the government maintains that this was a legally recognized
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  Speaker 3: way to preserve its ability to prosecute the case. Comey's attorneys,
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  Speaker 3: of course, say that's not true. The second question that
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  Speaker 3: everyone's talking about is this. Will prosecutors obtain a grand
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  Speaker 3: jury indictment? Remember, the latest charges were not approved by
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  Speaker 3: a grand jury. They're saying that tells you how weak
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  Speaker 3: the case is if you're listening to the media. And
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  Speaker 3: then the other question is this. What evidence does the
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  Speaker 3: government actually have? The public charging document contains relatively few details.
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  Speaker 3: Prosecutors have identified the alleged disclosure and then the general circumstances.
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  Speaker 3: But the public, well, we don't get to see all
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  Speaker 3: the evidence, and the government believes they have enough to.
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  Speaker 4: Support the case.
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  Speaker 3: Now, Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, says the underlying indictment was
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  Speaker 3: previously investigated by two different teams of prosecutors during the
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  Speaker 3: first Trump administration. According to Fitzgerald, neither investigations resulted in charges.
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  Speaker 3: And the defense argues that this latest prosecution, they say, is, well,
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  Speaker 3: And then, of course, they say it is, you know,
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  Speaker 3: politically motivated. And the Justice Department has also rejected that characterization.
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  Speaker 3: And they said, ultimately, we'll see you in court. So
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  Speaker 3: now you understand the context. And it goes back to
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  Speaker 3: the big point. The former FBI Director James Comey has
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  Speaker 3: now been charged with leaking national defense information. That is significant.
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  Speaker 3: And the question is, is he going to be held
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  Speaker 3: accountable for it? We're going to have to wait and see.
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  Speaker 3: But one thing that is very clear now is this.
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  Speaker 3: We have an administration that is looking backwards at the
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  Speaker 3: abuse of power they believe was taking place, the significant
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  Speaker 3: abuse of power that was taking place under the previous
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  Speaker 3: administration and James Comey.
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  Speaker 4: Quick break. Ben Ferguson's show, much more coming up.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with
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  Speaker 2: Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're
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  Speaker 2: listening to this podcast right now And for more in-depth news,
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  Speaker 2: also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and we will
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  Speaker 2: see you back here tomorrow.