Hi there, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York.

We begin today with the message of defiance from the former director of the FBI, whose indictment last night marks a radical turn, a literal hinge point in which our country ceased adhering to one of the

central tenets of life in a democracy. So begins an ugly new chapter in which an unpopular ruler

purges his own political party of prosecutors until he arrives at the weakest link in the chain.

That link willing to do what two Republican prosecutors

in good standing with MAGA refused to do

over a series of years.

Here's former FBI director Jim Comey

hours after news broke that he'd been indicted

by a grand jury on two counts.

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.

We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either.

Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she's right,

but 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. My heart is broken for the Department

of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I'm innocent. So let's

have a trial and keep the faith. Combe there is referring to a letter.

His daughter, Maureen Comey, wrote to her colleagues in the Southern District of New York

when she was fired from her job there.

Fear, though, is Donald Trump's favored weapon as his administration blows through decades

of norms and traditions and begins to actually prosecute Donald Trump's critics,

...