What Comey’s arraignment means for the justice system

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Government, Politics

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former FBI Director James Comey is set to be arraigned this morning. The move, though hardly unexpected, marks a defining moment in the history of the justice system after President Donald Trump repeatedly pressed for Comey’s prosecution. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns break down where things go from here. Plus, National Guard troops are poised to deploy to another major U.S. city. And on the eighth day of the government shutdown, do Democrats have the upper hand?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Retail supports more than one in four U.S. jobs and is a hub of innovation, creativity, and opportunity.
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0:32.5	Today on the Playbook podcast, former FBI director James Comey is in court this morning.
0:38.6	We'll be watching that one. The National Guard arrive in Chicago, and it's day eight of the government shut down, and Dasha, are the Democrats winning? We'll come to that in a minute.
0:45.3	This is Jack Blanchard. Hello. And I'm Dasha Burns, and it is Wednesday, October 8th, and I have
0:51.6	no great answers for you. This is the Playbook podcast. It's a big morning for America because the former FBI director
0:59.2	James Comey is in court today for the first time. It's an arraignment hearing at 10 a.m. in Virginia
1:05.5	and you just know we're going to see these pictures all over cable news, all over every
1:10.7	news website as soon as we see this. And over cable news, all over every news website,
1:11.4	as soon as we see this. And the reason this is obviously such a big story is because Donald Trump,
1:17.0	who said he was going to pursue his political enemies, prosecute them, it is now actually happening
1:22.6	for the first time. And Dashua, it's hard to think of a comparable situation for America
1:27.0	as the one we're going to watch play out today. And the pictures that, it's hard to think of a comparable situation for America as the one we're
1:27.5	going to watch play out today. And the pictures that you're talking about, those images are a huge
1:32.5	part of the point. This is a very visual president. He talks a narrative. He loves the image of
1:39.5	getting one over on his enemies. And regardless of how this ends, those are the pictures that he is going to be
1:46.4	hanging on to. You went to all those Donald Trump rallies leading up to the 2024 election. Did he
1:52.6	used to talk about James Comey? He was frequently talking about Comey. He talked about Russiagate.
1:58.6	He talked about the 2020 election a lot. This is a president
2:01.9	who I think neither forgives nor forgets people that he believes wronged him.
	...

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