The trio of host Geoff Bennett, New York Times columnist David Brooks, and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart gathered together on Friday’s PBS News Hour to announce, yet again, that democracy is dying. This time, the culprit is the Department of Justice and its decision to indict former FBI Director James Comey.
Bennett began with Brooks, “So, David, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan had been on the job for just four days when she went before a grand jury seeking this extraordinary, unprecedented indictment of James Comey. How do you view the charges themselves and the process that led to these charges?”
Charging someone, including politically controversial people, with lying to Congress is hardly unprecedented, and when the Mueller Probe indicted people on that same charge, liberals hailed it as proof Mueller was getting results.
However, Brooks claimed that the charges against Comey are so obviously corrupt that, “I view it the way every other sentient human being views it, as an erosion of our democracy, a blatant one.”
He added, “You want your prosecutors to ask themselves one question — well, two. Did this person commit a crime and can we prove it? And, clearly, that's not the way you can think if you're in the Justice Department these days. The only question you need — have to ask yourself is, does the president want me to do this?”
Brooks also regretted, “That's just a violation of our basic fundamental principles. And so I wish I had something sophisticated to say, but when you look at what the actual indictment is, it claims that he knew that somebody else did some leak.”
He concluded by declaring, “It's so flimsy, you can see why they have been deciding not to prosecute this case over and over and over again. And to do it a week before the term runs out, when the prosecutor's never prosecuted anything before, it's the obvious. It's a violation of our democracy.”
For his part, Capehart eagerly agreed, “Oh, look, when it comes to democracy and threats to democracy, there will be no daylight between me and David. I come at this with the same view.”
Capehart continued echoing Brooks when he added, “You know, justice is supposed to be blind. It is supposed to be meted out without fear or favor of the powerful and certainly without pressure from the president. And now what we have seen time and time again — this isn't the only time that we have seen Justice looking over her shoulder, wondering, what does the president want me to do?”
He wrapped up by stating, “And the other thing about this indictment of James Comey, it's only two pages. And it's only — it's two pages because it's double-spaced. It is literally so flimsy that it is no wonder that the former FBI director is saying, ‘Yeah, let's go to trial,’ because I think he knows deep down, if justice is to prevail, if the rule of law is to be upheld, a jury of his peers will find him not guilty.”
When Trump was convicted in New York, Brooks and Capehart hailed the idea of a jury verdict as proof that he wasn’t the victim of a political witch hunt. If Comey is found not guilty by a jury of his peers, would that mean that democracy is alive again? If he is found guilty, would that jury be in on the plot to destroy democracy as well, or would it show that, as we used to be told all the time, nobody is above the law?
Here is a transcript for the September 26 show:
PBS News Hour
9/26/2025
7:36 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: So, David, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan had been on the job for just four days when she went before a grand jury seeking this extraordinary, unprecedented indictment of James Comey. How do you view the charges themselves and the process that led to these charges?
DAVID BROOKS: I view it the way every other sentient human being views it, as an erosion of our democracy, a blatant one.
You want your prosecutors to ask themselves one question — well, two. Did this person commit a crime and can we prove it? And, clearly, that's not the way you can think if you're in the Justice Department these days. The only question you need — have to ask yourself is, does the president want me to do this?
And that's just a violation of our basic fundamental principles. And so I wish I had something sophisticated to say, but when you look at what the actual indictment is, it claims that he knew that somebody else did some leak.
Well, it's so flimsy, you can see why they have been deciding not to prosecute this case over and over and over again. And to do it a week before the term runs out, when the prosecutor’s never prosecuted anything before, it's the obvious. It's a violation of our democracy.
BENNETT: Jonathan, how does all of this strike you?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Oh, look, when it comes to democracy and threats to democracy, there will be no daylight between me and David.
I come at this with the same view. You know, justice is supposed to be blind. It is supposed to be meted out without fear or favor of the powerful and certainly without pressure from the president. And now what we have seen time and time again — this isn't the only time that we have seen Justice looking over her shoulder, wondering, what does the president want me to do?
And the other thing about this indictment of James Comey, it's only two pages. And it's only — it's two pages because it's double-spaced. It is literally so flimsy that it is no wonder that the former FBI director is saying, “Yeah, let's go to trial,” because I think he knows deep down, if justice is to prevail, if the rule of law is to be upheld, a jury of his peers will find him not guilty.