Steve Bannon blasts James Comey’s ‘special treatment’ after he was cuffed and thrown in jail for the SAME crimes: Live updates

Gold prices hit $4,000 per ounce for the first time yesterday as a rush from investors to safe-haven assets continued.

Gold futures trading in New York have risen by around 50 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Concerns over global debt levels and inflation, a weaker dollar and geopolitical tensions around the world have sent bullion soaring this year – underlining its status as a haven in times of turmoil.

Courtroom sketches have been released showing former FBI Director James Comey during his arraignment hearing on Wednesday.

Union leaders have hit back at both parties for the government shutdown and accused Donald Trump of using federal workers as ‘political pawns’ for claiming back pay is not guaranteed.

‘He intends to either violate the law, or degrade, frighten, antagonize hardworking federal employees whose only crime is caring and wanting to work for the American people,’ said Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees.

‘Congress, do your damn job. And president, you better start obeying the Constitution.’

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, added, ‘No American should ever have to choose between serving their country and feeding their family.’

The federal government shutdown is costing the American travel economy $1 billion each week, according to industry non-profit the US Travel Association.

‘This shutdown is doing real, irreversible damage,’ said Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the US Travel Association.

‘Travelers are facing longer TSA lines and flight delays. Airports are reducing flights and we’ve seen entire control towers go dark. The longer this drags on, the worse the cascade of damage will be—for local communities, for small businesses and for the country. Congress needs to act now and reopen the government.’

The group’s real time cost tracker crossed the $1 billion mark on Wednesday.

‘Travel keeps America moving. When travel is delayed and services are disrupted, the ripple effects reach every corner of our country,’ added Freeman.

Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said nearly a quarter of FBI agents have been reassigned to immigration cases, NBC reported.

‘In recent months, nearly a quarter of the FBI agents who handle counterterrorism, cyber, espionage, and other criminal cases have been reassigned to immigration enforcement. Some reports suggest that in the largest field offices, that number could climb to 45 percent,’ Warner is expected to say in prepared remarks later today.

‘Firing agents who investigate terrorists, drug traffickers, and sexual predators… and pulling cyber experts off cases targeting Chinese and Russian hackers, does not make America safer.

‘For all its “tough on crime” rhetoric, this administration’s actions suggest otherwise.’

Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shocked Democrats by saying how she’s ‘absolutely disgusted’ that premiums for health insurance could double at the end of the year, should Congress not renew the subsidies that are slated to expire at year’s end.

‘I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,’ the Georgia Republican wrote.

James Comey’s lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald said it is the ‘honor of a lifetime’ to represent the former FBI director, the BBC reported.

Fitzgerald is a longtime friend of Comey and served as the former US Attorney in Chicago for over a decade.

He is known for leading the investigation into the CIA leak case that lead to the conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, for perjury and obstruction of justice.

He also convicted two Illinois Governors, George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.

Patrick Fitzgerald and Jessica Carmichael, the lawyers of former FBI Director James Comey, were spotted driving away from the Virginia courthouse.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that he doesn’t think it would make a difference to keep the chamber in session over the weekend.

‘I don’t know if that does any good. If it makes any difference, I would,’ Thune said.

‘If they’re just going to continue to vote down keeping the government open, I’m not sure what purpose that will serve.’

Donald Trump has demanded that JB Pritzker be jailed after the Illinois Governor claimed the president’s ‘dementia’ was behind troops deploying to Chicago.

‘Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers!’ Trump wrote to his followers, referring Brandon Johnson. ‘Governor Pritzker also!’

James Comey appeared to have snuck out of the courthouse after pleading not guilty and demanding a speedy trial in the criminal case brought against him.

His wife and children were spotted exiting the courthouse, but Comey was no where to be seen.

Court reporters said he entered the courthouse earlier this morning through a door away from the press.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has rejected calls for a stand-alone vote on military pay.

‘Every Republican and at least one Democrat had the common sense to say “of course we want the government to stay in operation, of course we want to pay our troops and our air traffic controllers and our border patrol agents, TSA and everybody else,”‘ Johnson said. ‘We did have that vote.’

‘The House is done. The ball is now in the Senate’s court. It does us no good to be here dithering on show votes.’

Former FBI director James Comey was leading the agency when it began investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

According to Comey, when Trump took office the first time, he demanded the FBI boss pledge his loyalty to the president and drop the investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

When he refused, Comey was fired, which eventually led to Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the termination as a potential act of obstruction of justice.

After being let go, Comey authorized a close friend to share with a reporter the substance of an unclassified memo that documented an Oval Office request from Trump to shut down an FBI investigation into Flynn.

Ultimately, Mueller’s investigation did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, but they did find that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.

Trump and his supporters have long derided that investigation as a ‘hoax’ and a ‘witch hunt’ despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republicans’ campaign.

Trump has for years railed against both a finding by US intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and the criminal investigation that tried to determine whether his campaign had conspired with Moscow to sway the outcome of that race.

Trump has seized on the fact that Mueller’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign and the Kremlin colluded, and that there were significant errors and omissions made by the FBI in wiretap applications, to claim vindication.

A different special counsel, John Durham, conducted a years-long investigation into potential misconduct during the Russia investigation.

That resulted in three criminal cases, including one against an FBI lawyer, but not against senior government officials.

The criminal case against Comey does not concern the substance of the Russia investigation.

Instead, it accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee in his 2020 appearance, when he stated that he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about the investigation.

Judge Michael Nachmanoff told the prosecution and the defense to work together and cooperate to get access to classified documents as quickly as possible, the BBC reported.

‘There should be no reason this case goes off track,’ he said.

Lindsey Halligan, 36, a former beauty queen, is an emerging MAGA star and was appointed US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor Erik Siebert was ousted.

She promptly filed charges against Comey as the prosecution’s case against Comey was nearing a statute of limitations that would have expired.

Halligan, whose parents worked in healthcare, went to a private Catholic school in Broomfield, Colorado, where she was a basketball and softball star.

She went on to study politics and broadcast journalism at Regis University, a Jesuit college in Denver, which was also attended by Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10.

Halligan competed twice in Miss Colorado USA, making the semi-finals in 2009 and finishing fourth in 2010.

At the time, Trump co-owned the Miss Universe organization, which ran the pageants.

Later, she graduated from the University of Miami with a law degree and served in the city’s public defender’s office, before working on insurance cases as a partner in a private firm.

In late 2021 she went straight from a court case to an event at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The prosecution, lead by interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, told the judge they expect the trial of James Comey to last two to three days.

Comey’s defense agreed with that assessment, but also noted they believe the case will be dismissed before it gets to trial, according to courtroom reporters.

Former FBI director James Comey faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted of charges of lying to Congress.

He was indicted on Thursday on charges of making a false statement and obstruction relating to his oral testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020.

The US Attorney’s Office noted that actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

James Comey’s lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, said he intends to file motions to dismiss the case against his client.

One motion accuses the government of malicious and selective prosecution based on Trump’s public demand that Comey be prosecuted, the NYT reported.

The other argues that the case should be dismissed because the appointment of US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was unlawful.

Former FBI Director James Comey, 64, appeared in good spirits despite the pressure of the charges he is facing, and was seen chatting with his attorneys and making jokes as they walked in, according to courtroom reporters.

James Comey’s arraignment is over and he was released with no conditions. He will not be held in custody between now and his trial.

The defense has moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the appointment of US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was unlawful, the New York Times reported.

Judge Michael Nachmanoff said another court will rule on that motion.

Judge Michael Nachmanoff told the prosecutors he does not believe the case against James Comey is ‘overly complicated,’ according to the New York Times.

Prosecutors requested a later trial due to the ‘large amount of discovery which also includes classified information.’

However, Nachmanoff said he was ‘a little skeptical.’

‘This does not appear to me to be an overly complicated case,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to force you to go to trial in December if both sides don’t feel they can be ready.’

James Comey’s lead attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said that the defense team’s ‘first substantive contact’ with the prosecutors only took place on Tuesday, the New York Times reported.

‘We still have not been told who Person 3 and Person 1 are,’ Fitzgerald said, referring to the indictment. ‘We still haven’t been told precisely what is in count 1 or count 2.’

US District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff set a January 5, 2026, start date for the criminal trial against James Comey.

James Comey has requested a December start date for his criminal trial, the BBC reported.

After being read his rights and the counts against him, the judge asked Comey if he understood the charges.

‘I do your honor. Thank you very much,’ he replied.

Comey’s lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, who was the former US Attorney in Chicago, entered the not guilty plea for him.

His lawyers then requested a speedy jury trial with a December 17 start date.

Former FBI Director James Comey entered a not guilty plea through his lawyer and requested a jury trial.

He was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice.

Comey entered the federal courthouse in Virginia through a door away from the press.

His plea kicked off what is expected to be a ‘very aggressive’ defense of the charges levied against him by Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

Comey’s lawyers will almost certainly move to get the indictment dismissed before trial, possibly by arguing that the case amounts to a selective or vindictive prosecution, legal experts have said.

The Senate is set to vote on a funding bill at 12pm ET today as the government enters its eight day of its shutdown.

Former FBI Director James Comey slipped into the courthouse for his arraignment hearing.

Comey reportedly entered the Virginia courthouse through a door away from the press.

The arraignment is expected to be brief, and Comey is expected to plead not guilty to the charges of lying to Congress.

Demonstrators have gathered outside the Virginia courthouse where former FBI Director James Comey is being arraigned on criminal charges.

Former FBI director James Comey was indicted on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice.

The charges for Comey were related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020 over Crossfire Hurricane – the codename for the Trump-Russia investigation.

In addition to the two charges, the grand jury declined to indict Comey on a third count, an additional charge of making false statements, court documents showed.

In September 2020, Comey was brought before Congress to discuss Crossfire Hurricane.

He is accused of having lied to the committee when asked whether he had authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source of information related to investigations into either Trump or into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Pictured: Comey remotely testifying on September 30, 2020

James Comey is not the first former FBI director to face criminal charges.

In 1978, Watergate-Era FBI Director L. Patrick Gray was indicted on charges of conspiring to violate civil rights.

He was accused of authorizing illegal break-ins into the homes of fugitive members of the Weather Underground, a far-left group.

However, the charges were dropped in 1980 after prosecutors failed to meet the burden of proof.

James Comey will appear before US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a 2021 appointee of President Joe Biden, this morning.

Earlier this year, Nachmanoff let the CIA fire a doctor who pushed for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for the military,’ Politico reported.

Before his 52-46 Senate confirmation, Nachmanoff served as a magistrate judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2015 to 2021.

During his time as a magistrate judge, he presided over the 2019 arraignment of two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were charged with campaign finance violations. He released them on a $1 million bond.

Before that, he spent over a decade working in the federal public defender’s office.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and his law degree from the University of Virginia.

James Comey was nominated as the FBI director in 2013 by Former President Barack Obama and remained in office when Donald Trump began his first term.

However, he was fired by Trump in 2017 amid an investigation into Russian election interference.

Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller investigated the firing as a potential act of obstruction of justice.

After being let go, Comey authorized a close friend to share with a reporter the substance of an unclassified memo that documented an Oval Office request from Trump to shut down an FBI investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Trump and his allies later branded Comey a leaker, with the president even accusing him of treason.

In 2018, Comey described Trump as a mafia don, unethical and ‘untethered to truth’ in his memoir.

The two have antagonized each other over the years, with Trump repeatedly claiming that Comey should face charges for ‘treason’ – an accusation Comey dismissed as ‘dumb lies’ – and calling him an ‘untruthful slime ball.’

Top Justice Department officials denied any rumors that James Comey would have a perp walk before his arraignment.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel both told Fox News that there will be no ‘theater’ during Wednesday’s arraignment.

‘We conduct arrests, the FBI conducts arrests at every courthouse in this country every single day of the year,’ Blanche said.

‘Mr. Comey has been directed to appear, and I expect that he will. But the noise from MSNBC and from retired agents or unnamed anonymous sources about perp walks is just that. It’s just noise.’

Patel added, ‘The mainstream media wants to take the eye off the ball and create theater.’

‘We’re not about theater. We’re about producing our results in court. And that’s what you’re going to see tomorrow start, the revelation of details, and it will be forthcoming in the judicial process as everyone in America is entitled to, including Mr. Comey, and we want him to have his day in court.’

Sources claim a ‘problematic’ witness is undermining the prosecution’s case against former FBI Director James Comey.

Testimony from Daniel Richman, a law professor who prosecutors claim was authorized by Comey to leak information, would ‘likely insurmountable problems,’ ABC News reported.

Richman allegedly told investigators that Comey never advised him to share information with the press, which goes against the prosecution’s case.

The indictment brought by US Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia claims that Comey lied to Congress about authorizing someone to share information with the media.

Investigators who advised against bringing the charges warned against using Richman’s testimony.

James Comey’s son-in-law Troy Edwards Jr. was spotted arriving at federal court ahead of the former FBI Director’s arraignment today.

Comey´s son-in-law resigned as a federal prosecutor minutes after the former FBI director was indicted in late September.

Edwards quit his job ‘to uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country,’ he wrote in a one-sentence resignation letter addressed to Lindsay Halligan, the newly appointed U.S. Attorney in Virginia´s Eastern District, the office that charged Comey.

Edwards was the the deputy chief of the National Security Section, a prestigious role in a U.S. attorney´s office that covers the Pentagon and CIA headquarters, handling some of the highest-profile espionage cases.

Former FBI Director James Comey is appearing in court on Wednesday for a dramatic arraignment on charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation.

Comey, 64, who has professed his innocence, is in the dock at the same courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia where 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui and members of the ISIS terror cell known as the Beatles were previously tried.

He is appearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. The judge’s recent cases included sentencing an MS-13 gang leader to life in jail for his role in six gruesome killings.

The former FBI director was set to make his first appearance at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia to answer charges of lying to Congress in a bombshell case some have called politically-motivated.

Comey is expected to plead not guilty at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, kickstarting a process of legal wrangling.