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DOJ Indicts Comey Days After Trump Publicly Pressured A.G. Bondi; Who's Next? Trump's Effort To Target Perceived Enemies Speed Up; Trump Tells Parents Not To Give Kids Tylenol For "Virtually Any Reason". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 26, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, there will be others. President Trump just delivered that ominous warning to his political opponents in the wake of James Comey's indictment. And he's already attacking the judge assigned to Comey's case.

Plus, does either party have a plan to stop the government shutdown? Now, just four days away. I'll speak with a Republican senator on the state of negotiations or lack thereof this hour. And President Trump is unleashing a new attack on Tylenol, telling pregnant moms and children to stay away. A doctor is in to give you the actual science- based facts on what's really safe for your family.

I'm Manu Raju in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

First up, who's next? President Trump says he expects more of his perceived political enemies like James Comey will be prosecuted. Here's what he told CNN's Kevin Liptak on the White House lawn just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think there will be others. I mean they're corrupt. These were corrupt, radical left Democrats. Comey essentially was a -- he's worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey. But, no, there'll be others.

Look, it was, that's my opinion. They weaponized the Justice Department, like nobody in history, what they've done is terrible, and so I would -- I hope -- frankly, I hope they are other. You can't let this happen to a country. It's a pretty easy case because, look, he lied. You saw my Truth today, he lied. It was, yes, no.

He didn't say, well, in my opinion, he didn't do a lot of things that maybe he should have but I don't think he could because he lied. That was a very important question that he was asked, and he wanted to be specific, but he didn't -- the only thing that happened to him, he didn't think he'd get caught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, many may be shocked by what's happening here, but perhaps no one should be surprised. Trump has been promising retribution against his enemies for years. And the White House didn't exactly hide its intent with Comey. Just one week ago, interim U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert was ousted after not pursuing charges against Comey.

President Trump posted, quote, he didn't quit. I fired him. And then on Saturday, the president publicly demanded the Attorney General Pam Bondi, prosecute James Comey, as well as Adam Schiff and Letitia James. He explicitly wrote that, quote, justice must be served, after the indictments he faced before returning to the White House.

Now Monday, A.G. Pam Bondi tapped Lindsey Halligan, Trump loyalist with little experience to replace Siebert. And Thursday, Halligan presented charges against James Comey to a grand jury. There is a lot to dissect here.

So, let's get right to my excellent panel of political and legal experts, including Shan Wu. You know this stuff back and forth. Trump says this is a slam dunk case. Is it a slam dunk case? And how much has he impacted this case by continually making clear what his intention is to see James Comey convicted?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah. Let's start with that part first. That's a great gift to the defense team right now, and the fact that he keeps on commenting on it. The fact that he pushed for it to happen, that he's happy, that it happened, great gift. They can argue, select the prosecution. They can argue abstaining the jury pool. So, right away, he's making it much more complicated for the prosecution.

In terms of the strength of the case, it's little hard to tell right now, we don't know that much about it.

RAJU: It's a pretty thin indictment. There's a couple of--

WU: Right. I mean, indictment only needs to be noticed bleeding. But this is particularly thin, and it's got some weird typos in it, like there's a missing person. Apparently, they confused magistrate judge by giving them two copies. One was a declined one. So, it's already looking kind of thin here. Maybe it's a rush job.

But if it is based on the McCabe alleged discrepancy there, that seems really weak just listening to reporting, because first of all, it was Cruz summarizing the testimony. And second of all, McCabe did not actually say, Comey leaked it, or that Comey pre-authorized. It sounds like what McCabe said was simply, he told him about it afterwards. So, if, if, big, if, if that's what's based on, that seems really weak.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I think, you know, if you look at the indictment, the approved one, the one that is not -- does not include the charge that the count that was declined by the grand jury. I think it's more likely that the indictment refers to a person three. Again, there's no names of the individuals here, that this is actually about a leak involving Hillary Clinton, the Hillary Clinton email investigation, not about the Trump, Russia investigation, which is important. I'll come back to that.

Secondly, that it is the person three. Most likely is Dan Richman, who is a friend of Comey, who was brought in, and according to testimony, was, you know, authorized to talk to the media. And it refers to saying that the -- that Comey lied when he said he authorized -- that he had not authorized someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports.

[12:05:00]

And why this is important is because the president, as you know, has been obsessed with retribution over what he believes is "Russia hoax." It's the same, if you see Kash Patel, the FBI director's statement on Twitter. He makes a similar reference, but it turns out. This is actually the Trump Justice Department seeking justice in his words for what Comey actually did to Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election, the irony is just dripping, yes, from this.

RAJU: On multiple levels here. But perhaps not surprisingly, Jamie, Trump is out this morning attacking the judge in this case, calls it crooked. Joe Biden appointed judge, of course, was confirmed in the Senate, but a 50 to 46 vote, Biden did nominate in 2021, but you were hearing yet some new reporting about this as well.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I, you know, to be clear, I know Judge Nachmanoff. I've spoken to him at length. I think the first thing we should say is, he was randomly assigned this case, which is the practice. He is smart, he is thoughtful. He is known to have judicious' temperament. He also, and perhaps this is most important, he understands the microscope he's going to be under, and his courtroom is going to be any judge would, after all the Trump cases.

He knows what's coming, so this attack will not surprise him. He is known to be by legal sources described to me who have been in court with him. He is cool and calm under pressure. Calls balls and strikes. I will say I spoke to Judge Luttig, who is the former appellate court judge for Virginia conservative Trump critic. And after the Trump attack, he already has Judge Nachmanoff back. He said to me, Judge Nachmanoff is beyond all reproach, and he will be impervious to their unconscionable attacks and threats.

So, you see one judge coming for another. On a lighter note, Judge Nachmanoff, I know this from personal experience. He is a renaissance man. He is a voracious reader. He was a softball coach. He plays the bass guitar. And perhaps most important, ladies and gentlemen, he is a fourth-degree black belt in karate.

RAJU: And he come in handy--

GANGEL: Exactly, he is prepared for what does they had.

RAJU: Indeed, such great color and reporting there. Evan, you cover the Justice Department. Trump says there's no list of people to go after. Is there a list? I mean, he says it publicly, I suppose, but he says -- he says there's no list. PEREZ: Right. I mean, we don't have to really imagine that there's a list, because the president has made clear that there is a list. I mean, and Kash Patel, before he became FBI director, published a list of enemies that he believed the administration needed to go after. So, he has since denied that that was enemies list or that there's a list of retribution.

But it is clear that there is a list that the president wants to see investigated, that includes George Soros, that includes Adam Schiff, that includes Letitia James. And these investigations are spread out all over the country, right? There's investigations in the Western District of Virginia, there's investigations in Maryland, in Philadelphia. So, we will see a repeat of this playbook, perhaps in a number of places around--

RAJU: And you mentioned Adam Schiff, the California Democratic senator, he used to chair the House Intelligence Committee. He's been, of course, a big target of Trump's. And one of Trump's top officials -- top housing official has been -- really been pushing so many of these alleged mortgage fraud cases. He has made comments this morning that Adam Schiff, most certainly, in his view, could be next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM PULTE, FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: He made a lot of different things, primary residences, that is -- and he made a lot of different statements that I believe are very conflicting in nature. He's a U.S. senator. I believe he's a lawyer. This is supposed to be somebody who's very smart, very sophisticated. He knew what he was doing, in our view, in our opinion, and that will ultimately be up to the DOJ. Look, I have nothing against these people. I think what they did, obviously to the president, was wrong, but they did, in our opinion, commit mortgage fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Schiff, of course, is denied that allegation. But what do you -- what's your takeaway from those that clearly pushing this mortgage fraud case against Democrats, even though there's some cases about Republicans that we're not hearing much.

WU: Same thing, defense team, if there is a charge, says, thank you very much for doing that. He's going out there on national worldwide audience, saying we already think the guy is guilty. There's no room for like, an independent process to happen here, so that's very helpful to the defense.

[12:10:00]

Based on what we've seen on the mortgage fraud cases, they seem kind of thin. You'd have to look at the entire packet of the materials, see what's really in there. But the main takeaway from this, as a defense, counsel and prosecutor is really that this is classic bad pretrial publicity, and it's coming from the administration, from the executive branches, doing the prosecution, so very problematic. PEREZ: The sheer lack of discipline from Pulte, from Ed Martin, and from the president United States, I think, is what is going to hamper a lot of these investigations. Look, there might be some actual facts that an aggressive prosecutor could be able to make to bring these cases, but the problem will lie with the way the administration, some of these officials, including Pulte, who have absolutely no discipline, have been able to do -- to speak about this.

RAJU: Do you want to say something?

GANGEL: Can I just say, the chilling effect, though, is real, and Trump's motivation here, we know it's to make people's lives miserable and having to hire lawyers can financially ruin people. People are scared. I know several people who are wondering, am I next?

RAJU: Yeah. And we'll see who is next. All right, speaking up. Next for us, a malicious prosecution, authoritarian president in a tweet about healthcare. We'll break down what top Democrats in Congress are saying and aren't saying about Comey indictment.

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[12:15:00]

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RAJU: Should anyone be surprised by President Trump's public push to prosecute his rivals, including James Comey? Here's some of what then candidate Trump said during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: For those who I've been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution. Well, I said my retribution is going to be success. We're going to make this country successful again, because right now, it's a failing nation. My retribution is going to be success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So again, my excellent reporters are back. It turns out his retribution is not necessarily about success. It's about retribution here. Very much, so. Take us inside the White House and in the Justice Department as this is moving ahead. I mean, does he have his team in line behind this effort?

WU: Yeah. I mean, these charges are coming amid an aggressive public and private pressure campaign from the president. I mean, the president repeatedly told his attorney general and his deputy attorney general and DOJ officials, and he wanted to see charges brought against, not only brought against, you know, Comey, but also brought against Adam Schiff, against Letitia James, who we focused on a lot.

The problem was Comey was first, because the statute of limitations was coming up on this case of a decision to make quickly. But he told Pam Bondi repeatedly, you know, we want to see this guy charged. RAJU: Did she want to do this?

WU: The DOJ officials told him, and we reported this in a journalist like repeatedly. We don't have a case. Case is not strong enough to make it. And he said, I want to see you make the best case you can make, right?

And so, did he file the charges himself? No, but his own lawyer, his own personal lawyer for the entire campaign, is now for deputy attorney general. Pam Bondi is a loyal ally of the president. He told them exactly what he wanted, and it led to resignations in Virginia. It led to all sorts of fallout.

But at the end of the day, Trump last night, tweeted justice for all. And he also sees this, I'm telling you, as a political win, as a big political win for him, because there are few people he hates more than Jim Comey. And to be able to get the department of justice in this country, in this moment to file charges against someone like, call me, it's kind of remarkable.

RAJU: And it's, OK, it's also worth reminding folks that this is not normal, right? This is supposed to be a bright, clear line between the White House and the Justice Department, which Trump, of course, has trampled all over and directing his attorney general to take the steps that does simply has just not happened in the past.

But in the question was put to the American voters, this has been asked in poll after poll about how Trump would handle this issue, about investigating or prosecuting his opponents if he were elected. This was back in January 2024, CNN poll asked if Trump was elected, do you think he would direct DOJ to investigate his rivals? Every single group, Democrats, independents, Republicans, all said overwhelmingly, yes, including 76 percent of independents. People knew this was coming.

Catherine Lucey, white house correspondent, Bloomberg: Well, he's consistently said the quiet part loud, it's not a secret. People voted for him knowing this. This is not a surprise that he was trying to do this. And I think for the people who support Trump on this, you know, his voters, there's a real sense of grievance that Trump has been pushing for years, both around the investigations into him during his first term, but also the cases brought against him between his terms.

They consistently argue that he's been a victim, and that he is now turning the tables. And so, that is the message that he has been pushing to his supporters. But also in that polling, I mean, people all believe it's going to happen. I think Democrats and Republicans have very different views on whether it should be happening.

RAJU: How are Democrats now responding to this? It's been interesting to watch the response. It's actually not you would think that Democrats all that will be screaming about this, some of them have. Here's some of them who have raised concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): There's always been a separation between the political function of the White House and the president, and then the independent law enforcement function of the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. attorneys that operate under it.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): I think the country will see very clearly that we have an authoritarian president. And when you have a president ordering people's prosecution, that is a political persecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:20:00]

RAJU: But this is our Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader last night after these charges have been filed. Donald Trump is making healthcare in America more expensive. No talking about the shutdown fight that is coming in Washington. It's interesting because there's always this fight. There's been this debate in the Democratic Party. Do we make it about democracy? Do we make it about inflation? Do we make it about the economy? Perhaps Schumer's tweet suggests that he thinks it's the latter.

GANGEL: So, look, there is no pretense here that there is no firewall anymore between the White House and the Justice Department gone. As Trump has said, it is his justice department. For Democrats politically, when I talk to sources up on the Hill, they say, yes, of course, it's the economy, stupid. They need to run on that.

When you have new tariffs on, you know, kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets and drugs and trucks, they know, and social security, those are issues you're going to see them run on. But when you talk to voters, you hear over and over again, especially independents, where is the leadership on the Democratic side?

And you know, the question is, are they going to come together? And also, I do think, especially this past week, there are moments, and will they resonate? Whether it is Jimmy Kimmel or Tylenol or James Comey. We may see more and more voters saying, it's enough.

RAJU: Yeah. I guess the cumulative effect--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's really interesting, Democrats with James Comey. I mean, James Comey is loathed by much of the Democratic Party, right? I mean, he was a person who reopened the Hillary Clinton email investigation a week or two before the election. I mean, it is hard to imagine a figure among Democrats who so the much broadly dislike.

So, for a lot of folks, who'll be interesting to see if I speak up on his behalf, in this case, if they think it's a political persecution, if they think it's unfair, but it's also someone who they believe cost them an immeasurable harm in the country and their belief. What do they say?

RAJU: Yeah. They blame him for the 2016 election outcome, and now they have -- some of them are having hard time defending at this moment. All right, up next. A new post from President Trump is giving Tylenol a serious headache. We'll get medical fact check from Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Plus, inside the newest attempt to add more GOP seats in Congress and one of the most gerrymandered states in the country.

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[12:25:00]

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RAJU: Just days after blaming Tylenol, use among pregnant women as a cause for autism, encouraging moms not to take Tylenol or give it to their children. President Trump just posted on social media quote, pregnant women don't use Tylenol unless absolutely necessary. Don't give Tylenol to your young child for virtually any reason. That he made some unproven claims about childhood vaccines.

CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, joins me now. So, Dr. Reiner, what is your take on this advice from the president, telling parents not to give their children Tylenol for virtually any reason.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Manu, almost everything that he wrote in that post is provably wrong. And I think he's being very poorly served by his medical team and his HHS secretary, because what he's been -- what he's been saying publicly since that press conference, is provably wrong. It makes him sound very misinformed and to physicians and scientists around the country, I would say that this is what he's saying is laughable, but we don't think it's funny.

RAJU: So, what is your advice to parents right now, as they may hear the president saying these things.

REINER: Yeah. So, let me just say that there is no convincing data that links the cause of autism or any kind of neurodevelopmental disorder to acetaminophen, that's number one. It is safer for pregnant women to take as any medication. Talk to your obstetrician. There's no evidence that links measles vaccine post immediately postpartum to any subsequent problem with the child.

The varicella added to MMRV can rarely cause a high fever and a seizure with no neurologic sequelae. So, and there is no data that links multiple vaccines at a time, particularly the MMR components to autism. This has been studied. The number of vaccines given together, the spacing of the vaccines, the specific vaccines, none of that correlates with the cause of autism. And the president is being misinformed. And in and, so doing is misinforming the American public. My advice is, listen to your doctor. If you have questions, talk to your doctor.

RAJU: All right. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, with that sage advice, thank you so much for that. And up next for us, are Republicans on the Hill comfortable with Justice Department targeting James Comey? Well, most are staying quiet, but one senior Senate Republican will be here next to answer that question.

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