In the wake of the DOJ indicting former FBI Director James Comey last week, Ari Fleischer, former Press Secretary in the George W. Bush administration, criticized the mainstream media’s coverage of the Comey indictments as incommensurate with coverage of Biden-era DOJ indictments, even as Pam Bondi appeared to be following orders to prosecute that President Trump delivered over Truth Social just days before.
(Writing directly to “Pam” before the indictments came down, Trump slammed the “all talk, no action” DOJ and exhorted “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”)
Comparing “Trump-seeks-revenge” narrative driving coverage of the Comey prosecution to the Biden-era indictments of MAGA influencers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, Fleischer asserted that the Bannon and Navarro cases were covered as “straight news” while, as Fleischer contends, the Comey case is treated mainly as a vengeance tale.
[NOTE: Newly installed Trump-selected U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, got Comey indicted on two charges after Halligan replaced Erik Siebert, who did not bring charges against Comey and resigned his position under pressure from the President.]
Fleischer wrote: “I don’t know if James Comey is innocent or guilty, but I do know that when the Biden DoJ indicted Trump aides Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, the WP and NYT treated it as straight news, not as Biden going after his opponents. But now, it’s all about Trump getting his enemies.”
[Attributing the angle of the current coverage to Trump’s own claims, one X user commented: “Trump is going after his enemies in fact Trump has publicly stated that is what he is doing. Especially since a Federal prosecutor has already declined to prosecute. And Trump put an unlicensed attorney in charge of the prosecution That is straight news.”]
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a Stanford-educated lawyer and former Assistant U.S. Attorney, replied to Fleischer’s discontent over the media coverage.
Drawing distinctions between the cases that, to his mind, validated the difference in reporting angles, Goldman wrote: “Bannon and Navarro flagrantly defied Congressional subpoenas, and Joe Biden never discussed these cases (or any case) with the AG. Trump fired the U.S. Atty who would not charge a meritless case and then publicly directed the AG to charge it.”
Bannon and Navarro flagrantly defied Congressional subpoenas, and Joe Biden never discussed these cases (or any case) with the AG.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) September 26, 2025
Trump fired the U.S. Atty who would not charge a meritless case and then publicly directed the AG to charge it.
See the difference @AriFleischer? https://t.co/XxpixPlQ1L
MAGA influencer Mike Benz, a strong believer in President Trump’s claim that Biden “weaponized” the DOJ against him (thus giving him tacit permission to weaponize it against his own enemies), also joined the conversation to refute Goldman’s assertion.
In a dialogue that could be Exhibit A in the case that neither side is likely to persuade the other to see things differently, Benz wrote: “Merrick Garland flagrantly defied a Congressional subpoena (for the Hur tapes in the Biden classified docs case) THE VERY WEEK Garland sent Bannon to jail for defying a Congressional subpoena. The Biden DOJ prosecuted Bannon & protected Garland…”
Goldman replied to Benz also: “Garland complied with every request in the subpoena but, as part of the traditional accommodations process, provided the transcript of the Biden interview and not the video, which was superfluous. Bannon and Navarro provided absolutely nothing in response to their subpoenas.”
