Highlights from Sept. 25, 2025
- COMEY INDICTED: Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted today on charges of making a false statement and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
- TIKTOK DEAL: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to facilitate the sale of China-based TikTok to a group of U.S. investors.
- TRUMP-ERDOGAN BILATERAL: Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan this morning. The leaders were expected to discuss lifting the U.S. hold on the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey as well as the purchase of other fighter and Boeing aircraft.
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Trump says Erdogan 'knows about rigged elections better than anybody'
When Trump spoke with Erdogan in the Oval Office earlier today, he said the Turkish president is familiar with "rigged elections."
"We’ve been friends for a long time, actually, even for four years when I was in exile, unfairly, as it turns out, rigged election," Trump said. "He knows about rigged elections better than anybody, but when I was in exile, we were still friends."
Erdogan was re-elected in 2023 to an unprecedented third term.
Trump has frequently called into question the 2020 election results — in which he lost to former President Joe Biden.
Gabbard may have undermined investigation into ex-CIA director, officials say
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard may have undermined the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan when she revoked the security clearances of current and former officials who could be called as potential witnesses in the case, two senior administration officials told NBC News.
Gabbard on Aug. 19 stripped the security clearances of 37 former and current intelligence and national security officials whom she accused of manipulating or leaking intelligence or other misconduct. But her office did not properly coordinate the move with other agencies, and the Justice Department was blindsided, according to the two officials.
Axios first reported on the issue.
Former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald applies to join Comey defense team
Longtime federal prosecutor, associate and friend of James Comey, Patrick Fitzgerald, has applied to the court to represent Comey in his legal proceedings.
Fitzgerald has previously been a part of Comey’s legal team in other matters.
As the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Fitzgerald oversaw the prosecutions of such high-profile investigations as the corruption case of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the racketeering and fraud case against former Illinois Governor George Ryan and the fraud case against media titan Conrad Black.
Fitzgerald also rose to fame as the Special Counsel investigating the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame — which resulted in the conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Libby’s prison sentence was later commuted by President George W. Bush, and he was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2018.
Prior to working as the US Attorney in Ilinois, Fitzgerald was an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York prosecuting a wide range of cases including terrorism charges in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, organized crime including the Gambino family and drug trafficking cases.
James Comey’s son-in-law resigns from the Justice Department minutes after indictment is announced
Two sources familiar with the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia confirm that James Comey’s son-in-law resigned as a federal prosecutor from that very office just minutes after his father-in-law, the former FBI director, was indicted Thursday.
Assistant United States Attorney Troy Edwards stepped down late Thursday afternoon after submitting a brief resignation letter which said he quit “to uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country.”
Edwards watched today’s proceedings from the front row of the courtroom where the indictment was announced, according to NBC's Alex Bacallao, who was in the courtroom.
The letter was sent to the newly appointed interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who signed the indictment against Comey.
Edwards worked in the National Security Division, a high profile unit in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia known for handling complex cases involving spies, espionage and classified information.
Trump says U.S. will impose new tariffs on heavy trucks, drugs and kitchen cabinets
Trump announced today a new round of punishing tariffs, saying the United States will impose a 100% tariff on imported branded drugs, 25% tariff on imports of all heavy-duty trucks and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets.
Trump also said he would start charging a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture next week.
He said the new heavy-duty truck tariffs were to protect manufacturers from “unfair outside competition” and said the move would benefit companies such as Paccar-owned Peterbilt and Kenworth and Daimler Truck-owned Freightliner.
Comey reacts to indictment: 'There are costs to standing up to Donald Trump'
Former FBI Director James Comey posted a video to Instagram reacting to the indictment that was filed against him this evening.
“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. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant and she’s right. But I’m not afraid and I hope you’re not either. I hope instead you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it, which it does,” Comey said.
He added, “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent. So, let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”
Comey's indictment triggers dueling reactions from lawmakers
The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey has sparked dueling reactions from Democrats and Republicans.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote, “Donald Trump forced out a respected U.S. Attorney because they wouldn’t go along with Trump’s demands for political prosecutions. Less than a week later, his inexperienced handpicked successor brings charges against a member of Trump’s enemies list. In my almost six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, I never witnessed such a blatant abuse of the department.”
“The DOJ is now little more than an arm of the president’s retribution campaign,” Schiff added.
“Donald Trump is openly and nakedly trying to weaponize our justice system. In the end, that’s going to make us all less safe,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a post.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. posted, “We aren’t on a slippery slope to a constitutional crisis. We are IN the crisis. Time for leaders — political leaders, business leaders, civic leaders — to pick a side: democracy or autocracy?”
However, some House Republicans have cheered news of the indictment.
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, posted: “Good to see the DOJ treating lying to Congress as a serious matter. I guess Comey’s “Higher Calling” wasn’t to the Constitution or the laws of the United States.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said, “James Comey wrongly wielded weaponized bureaucracy and lawfare to derail a duly elected President.”
“Russiagate was a complete hoax, and those that perpetrated this should face justice. No one is above the law,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote in a post.
Epstein estate hands over more documents to House Oversight Committee
Two sources familiar with the Congressional investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstien tell NBC News that the Epstein estate has handed over another tranche of documents to the House Oversight Committee.
According to the sources, the estate handed over more than 8,000 documents which include unredacted calendars, call logs, and cash ledgers.
The committee is going through the material and intends to make records public once victims’ names are redacted.
Trump applauds indictment of former FBI Director James Comey
Trump has reacted to the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, applauding the Justice Department's move.
The president posted on Truth Social, “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI."
"Today he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts," Trump continued. "He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Over the weekend, Trump put pressure on Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against his political opponents.
Right-wing terror attacks plunged in 2025, while left-wing attacks ticked up: study
The number of right-wing terror attacks in the U.S. plunged dramatically in the first half of 2025, while the amount of political violence from the left creeped up, a new study found.
The report on terrorism and political violence by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan research group, found that, through July 4, “2025 marks the first time in more than 30 years that left-wing terrorist attacks outnumber those from the violent far right.”
The study noted there had been one right-wing terrorist incident this year — the June murder of Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband.
The report, written by the Washington think tank’s Daniel Byman and Riley McCabe, called that number “a remarkable drop off.”
