A former Homeland Security Department appointee put Trump administration officials on notice Saturday over what they described as potentially “illegal and unconstitutional" acts related to the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.
“They should not be worried about whether the James Comey charges stick – they won't, this is a fake case, these are false charges,” said Miles Taylor, who served under the first Trump administration, during an appearance on MS NOW’s “The Weekend.”
“What they should be worried about is whether any of them engaged in criminal conduct to bring these charges. I'm as serious as a heart attack about this; deprivation of rights, selective vindictive prosecution… these are things that are illegal and unconstitutional.”
Comey was indicted by the Trump administration for the second time this week on two felony counts: threats against the president and interstate communications of threats. The charges stem from a social media post Comey published on Instagram that included a photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47,” a reference that some conservatives have interpreted as a threat on President Donald Trump’s life.
The reference to “47” appeared to be a reference to Trump as the 47th president of the United States, and “86,” a reference to the informal term used to eject someone from a bar or restaurant.
“Anyone who's in that chain of these decisions, they should be worried about, in a future administration, could they be charged for having violated James Comey's rights intentionally and deliberately?” Taylor continued.
“This is about revenge, this is about retribution, that's why the case is going to fall apart, but that's also why it's not going to be forgotten after this because the process that led to it is potentially suspicious from a criminal standpoint.”