James Comey to Appear in Court

Playbook: “At 10 a.m. this morning, former FBI Director James Comey will appear in a Virginia courthouse to face federal charges. The hearing will be brief. Comey will be formally charged with lying to Congress and with obstruction of justice, and he will plead not guilty. A trial date may be set. The whole thing should be over in a few minutes.”

“But this is a momentous day for America — and not just because Comey is the first former FBI chief to be arraigned since Richard Nixon’s fall guy L. Patrick Gray in 1978. (The charges against Gray were later dropped.) Today’s proceedings matter because after years of threats, Trump is following through on something he has long vowed to do: criminally prosecute his political foes. It’s a moment many believed would never come.”