Former FBI Director Comey Charged, $14 Billion TikTok US Valuation

Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Good morning.
I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the
stories we're following today.
Karen, we begin with a major legal and political development.
Former FBI director James Comy is now facing a criminal indictment.
He's been charged with lying to Congress and obstruction over
testimony he gave in twenty twenty about leaks in the
Hillary Clinton investigation. The grand jury indictment was announced by
Lindsay Halligan, the federal prosecutor that President Trump hand picked
this week after her predecessor resigned under pressure. President Trump
was asked about the charges hours before they came out.
They're going to make a determination. I'm not making that determined.
I think i'd be allowed to get involved in it once,
but I don't really choose to do so.
I can only say that Comy's a bad person.
He's a sick person.
I think he's a sick guy.
Actually.
President Trump fired Comy in twenty seventeen while he was
overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the twenty sixteen campaign.
Call Me responded to the charges in a message on Instagram.
My heart is broken for the Department of Justice. But
I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and
I'm innocent, So let's have a trial.
Former FBI director James Comy could face up to five
years in prison if convicted.
Another major story that we're following this morning, Nathan, involves
the ongoing trade war. President Trump has announced a fresh
round of tariffs on pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks, and furniture. Bloomberg's
John Tucker joins us with the very latest. John, Good morning, h.
Good morning Karen. Trump's announcement includes one hundred percent tariff
on patent drugs of US. The producer's building a manufacturing
plan in the US, It posted on social media. They
will start October first. The announcement short on details. We're
not sure which producer is going to be impacted. The
Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hindrich Foundation,
had this reaction.
Trump is never going to be done with tariffs. So
anyone who thinks that this is the end, or at
any point that that would be the end of his
tariff game is delusional.
The man loves tariffs.
He'll continue to use them.
It doesn't stop at pharmaceuticals, import at heavy trucks, they'll
be subject to a twenty five percent duty, Kitchen cabinets
and bathroom vanities will be hit with a fifty percent charge,
and upholstered furniture imports will be taxed at thirty percent. Well,
the moves amount to a rapid expansion of Trump's tariff regime,
and it comes at a time and the President has
flanked his executive powers like none of his modern predecessors.
Most European drug makers slumped in early trading.
You know, York.
I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.
All right, John, thank you. Indeed, President Trump assigned another
executive order, this one detailing plans to allow TikTok to
keep operating in the United States. Sloomberg Zamy Morris reports
from Washington.
As part of this new framework, Oracle will audit TikTok's algorithm.
Vice President JD. Vance, what this.
Deal ensures is that the American entity and the American
investors will actually control the algorithm. We don't want this
used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government. We
want to make sure that our people and our investors
actually make these decisions based on what's good for their business.
And Man says the US version of TikTok will be
valued around fourteen billion dollars. Oracle silver Lake and the
Abu Dhabi based investment company MGX are in talks to
invest in a US version and receive board seats in
the new venture. The US will not get an equity
stake in TikTok, but Trump says the US government will
make money in taxes from the deal. In Washington, Amy
Morris Bloomberg Radio, all right.
Amy, thank you, and some analysts say that fourteen billion
dollar price tag values TikTok more like a stuffield energy
or food company than a leading global social media company.
Well, Nathan, The eightieth You and General Assembly continues in
New York today. Is really a Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
will be among those speaking. Israel Bureau Chief Evan Bronner
is in New York covering the closely watched speech.
The Prime Minister will be utterly defiant. He will tell
the world that it has misunderstood what's going on. That
to urge Palestinian statehood in the wake of what happened
on October seventh, twenty twenty three, is to reward terror
and to drive the wrong side of history. He's going
to explain why the only solution is to destroy completely
Hamas despite whatever cost he's accused of making happen there,
including of course accusations of genocide and famine and enormous
and increasing global isolation. But this government has come to
the conclusion that the future is in its hands as
long as it shows strength rather than compromise.
And Nathan, we turn out to markets and the economy
and it will get another key rating on consumers spending
and inflation before this morning's opening bill, and we get
a preview with Bloomberg's Michael McKee.
Consumers hung in there during August. The economists say the
consensus is spending remained strong during back to school season,
suggesting any impact from tariffs or Trump uncertainty was muted.
The August data comes a day after the government reported
spending was stronger than expected in the second quarter. Investors
are also watching the personal consumption price indexes for clues
to the fed's plans ahead. FED officials have already forecast
headline inflation of two point seven percent and a core
of two point nine, still moving away from their two
percent target. Michael McKee, Bloomberg Radio.
Mike, Thanks Meanwhile, FED Governor Stephen Myron's renewing his call
for aggressive rate cuts, and an interview heard right here
on Bloomberg Radio, Myron said the FED risks damaging the
economy by not quickly lowering rates.
I would rather act proactively, right and sort of we
know that we just had the biggest population growth shocks
in many people's lifetimes, mine included, Right, would we know
what the consequence of those are economically? I would rather
act proactively in lower rates as a result ahead of time,
rather than wait for some you know, giant catastrophe to occur,
because you suddenly wake up and find out that you
are sort of resuming those dynamics.
Thank Governor Stephen Myron spoke on Bloomberg Surveillance ahead of yesterday.
Stronger than expect the GDP report.
Wethern Company News Nathan Costco reported better than expected profit
for the fourth quarter. The nation's largest warehouse club operated
posted both earnings per share and comp sales above consensus.
Big box stores have seen strong sales growth despite the
risk of tariff driven inflation. Time now, for look at
some of the other stories making news in New York
and around the world, and for that We're joined by
bloomberg S Michael Barr, Michael, good.
Morning, Good morning, Karen. If Congress does not pass a
bill to keep the federal government funded past September, it
is likely to shut down starting Wednesday. The House approved
a Republican proposal to keep the federal government funded into November,
but the measure failed in the Senate. Democrats are pushing
to preserve healthcare programs as part of any deal. House
Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries.
Because of the Republican refusal to address the affordable care
tax credit issue, at least twenty million Americans are about
to experience dramatic increases in their healthcare premiums, co pays,
and deductibles.
This week, President Trump posted on his social media platform
that he no longer intended to meet with Democrats to
discuss a path forward. Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana
says this isn't just about President Trump.
We all know Republicans have the majority in both the
House and the Senate, and so it's up to Republicans
to drive the agenda. Democrats have said they don't agree,
and they decide that they're going to obstruct and that's
what shuts the government down.
The White House Budget Office is telling federal agencies to
prepare plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown.
A large group of protesters gathered outside twenty six Federal
Plaza in New York City, where they say that Immigration
and Customs Enforcement is holding migrants without due process. It
is the same building holdingburg. Several elected officials in New
York were arrested during a protest last week. The demonstration
comes just one day after a sniper opened fire on
an ice Field office in Dallas, but New York protesters
weren't deterred.
I believe in peace. I believe in the possibility of
peace every day, and I believe we can solve all
these problems with a commitment to peace.
Protesters say people are being held in unsafe and inhumane conditions.
A federal judge in New York is promising a speedy
decision after hearing arguments Thursday on whether to throw out
two prostitution related charges that rapper Sean Diddy Combs was
convicted of in July. If the charges stand, Combs will
be sentenced next week. Global News twenty four hours a
day and whenever you want it with the Bloomberg News
Now Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg Karen.
Thanks Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports update, and
for that we bring in John stash Hour.
Thanks Garreth.
Thursday football in Phoenix, see I don't have two touchdown
lead was six minutes to go to Kyler Murray touchdown
passes one with twenty eight seconds left tied the game,
but Jason Myers of fifty two yardfield goal at the end.
Seattle won twenty three twenty Detroit Tiger's finally got a
win four to two at Cleveland. The Tigers and Guardians
are tied for first going too the final weekend. The
Ryder Cup forty fifth edition starts this morning at Bethpage
Black on Long Island. Europe has won eight of the
last eleven ten at the last fourteen. That's your Bloomberg
Sports update.
Stay with us.
More from Bloomberg day Break coming up after.
This Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM,
and around the world on Bloomberg dot Com and the
Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak.
Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. President Trump has been pushing
for legal action against officials he perceives as his political enemies. Now,
the FBI director he fired nearly a decade ago, James Comey,
has been charged with obstruction in line to Congress. Comy
is already responding. He says he's innocent.
Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is
the tool of a tyrant, and she's right.
But I'm not afraid, and I hope you're not either.
That was former FBI director James Comy in a post
on Instagram. For more, we're joined by Terry Haynes, the
founder of Pangaea Policy. Terry, good morning, your reaction to
this indictment.
Good morning, Nathan. Three points on this. First, this is lawfair,
pure and simple, with the objective of ruin, where the
process is punishment. But I don't think people ought to
be crowing about or ringing their garments, about brending their
garments about Comy. You know, people that sow the wind
reaped the whirlwind. And there's been plenty of lawfair tossed
around over the last decade on both sides. So people
need to remember that. I think number one, number two,
the case depends entirely on the fact. That's the element.
But I pointed out to say, the facts aren't known,
and so we'll need to look at the strength of
the case to assess it. The fact that prior prosecutors
didn't want to bring the case tells us something, but
I think doesn't tell us everything. So we'll need to
look at that going forward. Finally, there's a bigger point here.
The bigger point is whether you're restoring or destroying government credibility.
There'll be disagreements about that as well, but the Trump
people think they're trying to restore government credibility in no
small part because you ask yourself the basic question, what
in Heaven's name was Komy doing back in twenty sixteen,
twenty seventeen by having personally or having the department leaking
documents back and forth, not just on Trump but on
the Secretary Clinton as well. So lots of questions here,
but this looks to me like, in part on an
opportunity from the Trump perspective, for people to re litigate
the Inspector General's report that found Comy at fault in
a lot of different ways.
Well, let's get into that point in particular. I mean,
coming into this second term, President Trump talked about wanting
to end the weaponization of the Justice Department. Doesn't this
undermine that fundamental message?
You know, I was on your ear. I think you
and I talked directly about the wisdom of letting all
this go and how heartening that seemed to be. My
only response is that consistency is the hob goblin of
little minds, as Emerson said, And you know, I think
this is a case where the lesser instincts are taking
over from the higher.
There's also a question about whether the president himself had
an influence over this. He was asked about it directly
in the Oval office yesterday. He said he's not making
the determination, but he feels like he could if he
wanted to. And he hand picked the prosecutor that brought
these charges with the grand jury after the last one
resigned under pressure. Is there presidential influence here?
Well, you know, I think the president wants it both ways.
I'm not saying that in a nefarious sort of way.
I'm saying in a public relations sense. On the one hand,
he wants it to be known that this is the
result that he wanted and that that's apparent from his
statements just over the last week or so, but at
the same time trying to stay away from the more
granular questions of just how much influence he had, you know.
But bottom line, it bears understanding that, you know, the
Justice Department is a creature of the executive and exercises
executive power. The President certainly can involve himself in these things,
and he's not the first to do so.
This is Bloombergy Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories
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