Good morning. It's Saturday, September the 27th. Donald Trump's retribution presidency has entered an unprecedented and dangerous phase.

It was less than a week ago when the president openly complained on social media that Pam Bondi, the attorney general, whom he

handpicked to lead the Justice Department, was not doing enough to punish his perceived political

enemies. But there have been some big developments in that space since. Last night, the New York

Times reported that it had reviewed a federal grand jury subpoena issued by the DOJ for records related to the travel

history of Fannie Willis, the Georgia District Attorney who attempted to prosecute Trump for

election interference. And the Associated Press broke the story that the FBI recently fired

more than a dozen employees who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice

protest in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. But the biggest development this week was

in some ways the least shocking. The federal invitation of former FBI director James Comey was

years in the making. For the better part of the past decade,

Donald Trump has been dragging his name through the mud and calling for his prosecution.

But the fact that the president was actually able to get the federal government to do his bidding

is a giant step toward eroding the independence of the justice system and undoing the rule of law in America.

To truly understand just how brazen and flagrantly political this indictment appears,

let's revisit the events that led us here.

Comey didn't really enter the American consciousness until the summer of 2016, as the presidential

race was entering the home stretch. As FBI director, he oversaw the summer of 2016, as the presidential race was entering the home stretch.

As FBI director, he oversaw the investigation of Hillary Clinton,

Democratic presidential nominee, and her handling of government records.

During a press conference in July of that year,

he criticized Clinton and her staff for being, quote, extremely careless.

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