Donald Trump is using the power of the presidency to enact revenge on his political enemies, and Republican lawmakers couldn't be happier.
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on Thursday on charges that he lied to Congress. This is extremely thin gruel that federal prosecutors did not think were worthy of charges. Legal experts say it’s unlikely to lead to a conviction, and it could even be dismissed for vindictive prosecution given Trump’s public comments demanding Comey be charged and celebrating the ultimate indictment.
Yet multiple GOP lawmakers—who have wrongly claimed that Trump was the victim of lawfare—posted on X to declare that Comey's indictment was a "good day for the rule of law.”
"James Comey, as your side loved to say, no one is above the law. This is not retribution, it’s accountability," Rep. Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, wrote in a post on X.
In fact, Comey’s indictment was so exciting to GOP lawmakers that some wrote social media posts that fantasized about seeing Comey behind bars.
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, shown last December.
"All of the years this guy spent being applauded by his leftwing toadies, every cocktail party and TV appearance will not add up to the millisecond when he hears the bars slam behind him,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, Republican of Wisconsin, wrote in a post on X:
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, posted a doctored image of Comey dressed in an orange jumpsuit on a beach with seashells spelling "FAFO"—short for "fuck around and find out." The image was a nod to Comey's Instagram post that included the "86 47" written on a beach—a post that led to manufactured outrage from conservatives.
Luna wasn't the only Republican to harken back to that Comey Instagram post.
Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, also posted an apparently doctored image of seashells on a beach that spelled out "No one is above the law."
"James Comey, one of the corrupt officials who helped orchestrate the Russia Hoax, was just indicted for lying to Congress and obstruction of justice. Bad actors must be held accountable. Did Comey see any interesting seashell messages on his beach walk today?" Biggs wrote alongside the image.
The Republicans who spoke out against the indictment were generally those not running for reelection next year and thus no longer fearing the electoral consequences of Trump's ire.
"Lawfare undermines our great country. It didn’t start in Jan, but it didn’t end either. The continued escalation will only hurt us all," Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, who is not running for reelection, wrote in a post on X.
Comey, for his part, said he is not afraid of the indictment, declaring that he is innocent and saying he wants a trial.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, shown in June.
“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,” Comey said in a video message posted on Instagram. “We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either.”
Even Fox News analysts said the case is bullshit.
"I don't think there's a case," former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy told Maria Bartiromo. "It seems to be premised on something that's not true, which is that [former FBI Deputy Director Andrew] McCabe said that Comey authorized him to leak to the Wall Street Journal. ... I don't see how they can make that case."
Democrats said that when they regain power, they will make the people who engaged in this perversion of justice pay.
“The indictment of James Comey is a disgraceful attack on the rule of law,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement on Thursday night. “Donald Trump and his sycophants in the Department of Justice are completely and totally out of control, and have viciously weaponized the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries. The malicious prosecution against James Comey has no apparent basis in law or fact, and lawyers of good conscience in the department know it. Anyone complicit in this malignant corruption will face accountability.”
