The FBI, under Director Kash Patel, according to anonymous sources, is considering responding to the recent indictment of former Director James Comey with a highly visible perp-walk. While this would be roundly satisfying to many, some in the FBI are resisting, including one agent who has reportedly been suspended for refusing to participate.
The FBI is considering carrying out a "showy" arrest and perp walk of the agency's now-indicted ex-Director James Comey, and has suspended an agent who refused to participate in the plan, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Comey was charged last week with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, an unprecedented move that came after President Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into his longtime adversary. A grand jury voted to indict him on Sept. 25 and hours later, Comey was issued a summons directing him to appear in federal court in northern Virginia for an Oct. 9 arraignment. His lawyers agreed to bring him to his arraignment, two sources said.
Note that these are the usual anonymous sources. Former Director Comey has already agreed to appear on his own for his arraignment. That's the usual form of these things. But the FBI's top brass may have other plans.
But on the same day as his indictment, FBI leadership discussed hauling Comey in instead of waiting for the ex-FBI chief to report to court on his own, a source knowledgeable about the conversions (sic) told CBS News.
The source told CBS News that leadership asked for "large, beefy" agents to conduct an arrest of Comey "in full kit," including Kevlar vests and exterior wear emblazoned with the FBI logo. It was suggested that Chris Ray, a supervisory special agent in the violent crimes division of the FBI's Washington Field Office, would be able to put together the kinds of agents who fit the bill, the source said.
Ray refused to participate in this plan, believing it would be inappropriate and highly unusual for a white-collar defendant like Comey, according to the source. He was then suspended for insubordination.
He has a point, at least, if we take this account at face value. This would be an unusual play when the accused is not a violent offender and has already agreed to show up at his arraignment. But, once again, these are all anonymous sources. The individual agents at the FBI may not yet have figured out on which side their bread is buttered, but they'll have ample opportunity to figure that out as this thing proceeds.
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But the really funny part of all this is the hand-wringing over the idea by the legacy media, including this CBS News report. We might note how the legacy media reacted at the rather high-profile arrests of Roger Stone in 2019, of Steve Bannon in 2020, and Peter Navarro in 2022. In those cases, the legacy media almost drowned in their own slobber over the video perp-walks. And now they're suddenly worried?
FBI Director Kash Patel has certainly made some very direct statements about that and took to his official X account to let MSNBC talking head Barbara McQuade, as well as the American readers, know exactly what he thinks.
Satisfying as it may be to many, there probably won't be a perp-walk, unless Comey skips out on his own arraignment and prompts federal law enforcement to go out looking for him. That doesn't seem likely. No, he'll show up, with a retinue of lawyers, and will likely be released to his own devices pending trial, or some kind of a deal.
But that doesn't make Director Patel's reply any less insightful - or accurate. The hypocrisy of the legacy media is once more laid bare, and that's always worth doing.