Lawrence O’Donnell Slams ‘Madman’ Trump, Predicts Outcome In DOJ Indictments

On Oct 11, 2025

MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell on Thursday excoriated President Donald Trump as a “madman” over his perceived weaponization of the Department of Justice to target his political foes, leading to indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“Well, we have been here before,” said the “Last Word” host. “And it did not end well for the madman at the center of the plot, the president with an enemies list.”

O’Donnell went on to compare Trump to disgraced former President Richard Nixon, who also infamously curated a list of his political opponents, but argued that there’s “one big difference” — Nixon didn’t spend his life “in a Trumpian prison of stupidity.”

As evidence, O’Donnell cited a now-infamous social media post from the president.

Trump appeared to urge U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Truth Social rant last month — which was intended as a private message — to prosecute Comey, James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Comey was indicted on charges of lying to Congress mere days later and James was indicted Thursday on allegations of bank fraud.

James is accused of misrepresenting information on paperwork about her Virginia property. Trump’s handpicked acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, presented the case to a grand jury herself.

The prosecution alleges James secured a favorable loan for the property by claiming it as her secondary residence, only to rent it out to a family of three. James has previously said she made an error while filling out the paperwork, which was then corrected.

She has called the indictment “baseless,” to which O’Donnell staunchly agreed.

He argued that both she and Comey will eventually be just as pleased to be on Trump’s list of enemies as Nixon’s targeted opponents were when he resigned, as many of them “didn’t get screwed” by the disgraced administration — but “thrived” in the immediate aftermath.

“And so the badges of honor are being awarded once again, and it will end the same way,” said O’Donnell. “Donald Trump’s enemies list is the badge of honor of our era. And today, New York State Attorney General Letitia James got one of those badges.”

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The indictment appears to hinge on something O’Donnell believes cannot be convincingly proven: it alleges James “knowingly” made false statements in her paperwork, and “then knew” while applying for a loan in 2020 that her claims were fraudulent.

“So this entire case comes down to the prosecution having to prove what it claims is a fact, that Attorney General James ‘then knew,’ and that she intended to rent out the property,” he said, adding, “You have to be able to read her state of mind to do this prosecution.”

O’Donnell then outlined the difficulty for the prosecution in doing that.

“And so, there’s a very strong chance that this case, if it makes it to trial, will get a directed verdict from the judge finding that the prosecution was incapable of proving what it claims in writing in the indictment is a fact — Attorney General James’ state of mind,” he said.

O’Donnell added, “James is probably on her way to take her place in history with former FBI Director James Comey at the top of the Trump enemies list, and as the people who beat the madman in the White House in court, because that is what is likely to happen here.”