WASHINGTON, DC — This week, the Trump administration launched two new attacks on perceived political enemies using the very same weapons courts and public pressure had already forced it to abandon. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney, has obtained an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. At the same time, the Trump-aligned FCC ordered ABC to file early license renewals for eight television stations in retaliation against host and longtime Trump critic Jimmy Kimmel.
The pattern is clear: even after courts say no, Trump returns and often reaches for another lever of power. This administration views the Justice Department and federal regulators as a personal arsenal against its enemies, and it will keep weaponizing new federal tools until its critics are silenced, bankrupted, or broken.
Here’s what happened:
The Second Indictment of James Comey
Trump has wanted James Comey prosecuted since firing him as FBI Director in 2017, the firing that related to the Russia investigation and made Comey one of his most vocal and high-profile critics.
FIRST INDICTMENT: In September 2025, Trump personally ordered the prosecution of Comey. The charges came over the objections of career prosecutors, who documented insufficient evidence in a formal declination memo. Those who refused to proceed were fired, demoted, or forced to resign.
INDICTMENT DISMISSED: In November 2025, a federal judge threw out the case after finding that Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor had been improperly appointed, a procedural failure that reflected the same corner-cutting that characterized the underlying prosecution.
SECOND INDICTMENT: On April 28, 2026, the DOJ obtained yet another indictment of Comey, this time over an Instagram photo showing seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” Comey removed the post the same day it went up, stating he opposed violence of any kind. Legal experts across the board called the case a clear non-starter. The man who approved these new charges was Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney, now installed as Acting Attorney General after Trump fired Bondi for not moving fast enough against his enemies.
The FCC Targets ABC… Again
Jimmy Kimmel has been one of the most consistent and visible critics of Trump on late-night television for nearly a decade.
FIRST THREAT: In September 2025, FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to pull licenses from ABC affiliates after Kimmel made on-air remarks critical of the Trump administration. Disney briefly suspended the show under administration pressure. Kimmel returned six days later after bipartisan backlash, including from Senator Ted Cruz, who said it wasn’t the government’s job to police speech.
THE ESCALATION: ABC didn’t cave, and Kimmel stayed on the air, until the administration found its next opening. On April 23, Kimmel made a joke about the Trump family during his monologue. Trump went to Truth Social demanding Kimmel be fired immediately, calling it an attack on the First Lady.
SECOND THREAT: On April 28, the Trump-aligned FCC ordered Disney’s ABC to file early license renewals for all eight of its owned-and-operated television stations within 30 days, licenses not due for renewal for years. The FCC hadn’t issued an early-renewal order in decades. The FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner recognized this for what it is: regulatory punishment for airing a critic of the president. The process itself is the weapon: a protracted, years-long licensing fight designed to pressure Disney into compliance and designed to frighten others who might dare to exercise their First Amendment freedom of expression.