From Comey to Shutdown? From Kimmel to Kirk – “The Sunday Political Brunch”

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER™

Former FBI Director James Comey PHOTO: FBI

There is so much going on in the Nation’s Capital these days, especially with the indictment of a former FBI director. There is also more fallout from the murder of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk, and Jimmy Kimmel’s punishment for “jokes” related to that matter. The big question remains: will the government be open or closed? Let’s “brunch” on all that this week.

“DOJ Watch” – Late Thursday, the Department of Justice announced the federal grand jury indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump in 2017. Comer is accused of lying under oath in Congressional testimony and obstructing an investigation. “Let’s have a trial,” Comey said in a video he posted on Substack. He added, “My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump.” Trump was thrilled and said on his Truth Social site, “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.” Trump has long-stated the Justice Department under President Joe Biden, was “weaponized” against Trump. Now, critics of the Comey indictments say Trump is also “weaponizing” the DOJ. We are going to hear that word a lot more.

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“Who’s Next?” – President Trump gave strong hints his team is not stopping with just Comey. Trump said Friday, “There will be others. That’s my opinion. They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history. What they’ve done is terrible, I hope, frankly, there are others because you can’t let this happen to a country.” Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, had his home and office raided by the FBI weeks ago, amid concerns that he may have kept classified documents. Like Comey, Bolton has been outspoken of Trump in public, saying Trump would use his second term for “personal retribution.” Many Democrats believe the same.

“Kimmel Returns” – ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night show Tuesday, after briefly being suspended following insensitive remarks regarding assassinated podcaster Charlie Kirk. Kimmel did not apologize, but did say, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.” He added that Kirk’s widow, Erika, performed a “selfless act of grace” in publicly forgiving Charlie’s killer. An estimated 6.3 million people watched the show, which is more than three times his regular audience. FCC Chairman Brendan called Sinclair’s boycott “a good thing.” He added, “After all, local TV stations—not the national programmers—have public interest obligations, and they should be making decisions that in their view meet the needs of their local communities.” But by the end of the week, Sinclair and Nexstar were back airing Kimmel.

“Trump Responds” – President Donald Trump was clearly not happy about Kimmel’s return, saying on Truth Social, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled!” He added, “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings.” Kimmel said of Trump, “He tried. He did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.” Even conservative podcaster and Trump supporter Joe Rogan defended Kimmel, saying, “I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved ever in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue.”

“Censorship Concerns” – While President Trump praised ABC’s initial suspension of Kimmel, he suggested that individual broadcast licenses could be at risk, saying that federal regulators (meaning the FCC) should consider revoking broadcast licenses for networks that “give me only bad publicity.” He added, “All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed! They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) New York, said, “That is censorship. It is disgusting. It is a violation of the First Amendment. What Trump is doing is coming right out of the Xi’s and Putin’s playbook. He is launching in broad daylight a naked attack on perhaps the most basic freedom in America – free speech.” Right now, there is no legal basis for anyone to file a lawsuit, unless a license is suspended over this. It would be fascinating to see what the lower federal courts, and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court, would say.

“Free Speech Wisdom” – There is a lot of wisdom on free speech over the ages. Sir Winston Churchill famously said, “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without it being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.” The suspension of Kimmel was a business decision by ABC, and it is within its right to do so if a company policy or standard was violated. It’s a whole different matter than suggesting a station or network could be stripped of its license by the government for unfavorable news coverage. Founding Father and later President John Adams said, “The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state.” Founding Father and newspaper publisher Benjamin Franklin said, “Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government. When that pillar is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved.” And another Founding Father and later President, Thomas Jefferson, said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

“Government Shutdown?” – The U.S. government is in danger of shutting down this Wednesday, October 1st, if Congress fails to pass a continuing resolution to keep operations funded, at least until late November. Initially, Trump had a meeting scheduled with Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D) New York and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) New York. “I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Democrats in Congress issued a statement saying, in part, “Donald Trump and the GOP continue to march this country toward a painful Republican shutdown… Democrats have been clear that we are willing to sit down and work toward an agreement.” The White House put out a memo saying it may permanently fire thousands of federal workers if the shutdown happens. Sen. Schumer called that “an attempt at intimidation.”

“Would-be Trump Assassin Guilty” – The strangest political story of the week involves Ryan Wesley Routh, who was convicted of trying to assassinate President Trump in Florida a year ago. Upon being found guilty in federal court, Routh stabbed himself in the neck with a pen in a failed suicide attempt. The non-lawyer, who represented himself at trial, had a pen for taking notes. He did not testify in the case. Routh did not seriously injure himself. He faces life in prison during his sentencing on December 18th. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, “Today’s guilty verdict against would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence.”

“Kirk Aftermath” – I wonder if we are at the start of a disturbing new trend. After the murder of Charlie Kirk, investigators said some of the shell casings had politicized messages on them. Fast forward to this past Wednesday, when a gunman killed one person at an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) office in Dallas. Investigators say the shell casings in that case had political messages. “We can confirm, the shell casings were found with anti-ICE messages on them,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. She added, “This was an attack on ICE law enforcement.” One immigration detainee was killed, and two others were wounded. Police say the gunman, 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, then took his own life. No ICE agents were hurt.

“Closing in on Epstein File Release?” – Arizona held a special election after one of its members of Congress died. On Tuesday, Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D) Arizona won the race. The U.S. House now has 219 Republicans and 214 Democrats. However, four Republicans have joined with all Democrats in demanding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking files. During the campaign, Grijalva promised she would vote to release the files, now giving that side the 218 votes needed to pass the order. Those long-awaited documents may be coming soon. The Department of Justice says Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell in 2019.

“Justice Barrett on Trump 3rd Term” – U.S. Supreme Court justices rarely do media interviews, and when they do, they are often very circumspect about a case that may come before them. That said, Fox News recently interviewed Justice Amy Coney Barrett about the possibility of Trump seeking a third term. Host Bret Baier asked Barrett if the 22nd Amendment, which limited a president to two terms, was “cut and dried.” She agreed that the Amendment approved in 1951 clearly restricts presidents to two terms. “Well, you know, that’s what the Amendment says, right? You know, after FDR had four terms, that’s what that Amendment says.” She was referring to the fact that presidential term-limits were passed after President Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the White House four times. So, the only way Trump could serve again is if the 22nd Amendment were repealed. He’d need at least 38 states to approve the change. That’s a tall order.

Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is a South Florida-based political writer and analyst who has covered news and politics all across the nation, including New England, for the past 48 years. Most recently, he was the Chief Political Reporter for the seven Nexstar Media TV stations covering West Virginia, its five neighboring states, and the entire Washington, DC media market. He remains a MINDSETTER™ Contributing Political Writer and Analyst for www.GoLocalProv.com and its affiliates.

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