Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Former FBI Director James Comey has asked a federal judge to throw him out Trump administration’s criminal case against himCalled it “vindictive” and a “gross abuse of power”.
In a motion filed Monday in federal court in Virginia, Comey’s lawyers accused the Justice Department of pandering to their “personal grudges” and “animosity” by illegally seeking to punish him for years of criticism of President Donald Trump.
“The Government has chosen to prosecute Mr. Comey because of his protected speech and personal hostility to President Trump,” the lawyers wrote.
“Such vindictive and selective prosecution violates the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and equal protection principles.”
Anything less than dismissal with prejudice, he said, “would be inadequate in view of the government’s gross misconduct and the need to prevent the government from pursuing further unconstitutional prosecutions.”
In support of their motion, Comey’s lawyers attached a list of approximately 188 Social media posts by Trump in which he railed against Comey As a “liar”, a “dirty cop” and “one of the worst human beings this country has ever produced”.
In a separate motion, lawyers accused Trump’s federal prosecutor Lindsey Halligan of being improperly appointed to her post without Senate approval.
Federal prosecutors have charged Comey with obstruction of justice and lying to Congress in 2020 during testimony on his role in the Trump-Russia investigation four years earlier.
But these allegations were made only after that Several prosecutors resigned over their refusal to go after Comey.After publicly demanding that Comey be prosecuted, Trump is leading – He was eventually replaced by his former personal attorney, Lindsay Halligan.,
Halligan then presented the indictmentHis signature was not signed by anyone else, which Comey’s lawyers say was highly unusual. A grand jury in Virginia dismissed his first indictment, cleared the other two with a majority of 14 to 23,
Comey has pleaded innocent to both charges.
“President Trump ordered the Justice Department to prosecute Mr. Comey out of personal hatred and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office,” Comey’s lawyers wrote on Monday.
“When no career prosecutor would comply with those orders, the President publicly forced the interim U.S. Attorney to resign and directed the Attorney General to pursue ‘justice’ against Mr. Comey.
“He then appointed a White House aide with no prosecutorial experience as interim U.S. Attorney… just days before the relevant statute of limitations expired.”
The proposal acknowledges that it is rare for federal charges to be dismissed as malicious, because the DOJ has previously “maintained the highest standards of ethics.”
But here, the motion says, there is “substantial” evidence – “much of which comes directly from government officials’ own public statements and confessions” – to prove the case.
It notes that Trump first called for Comey’s prosecution in early April 2018, and cited 2022 claim Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Kelly said he wanted to use the IRS and FBI to target Comey during his first term.
Comey’s lawyers also mentioned The DOJ fired Comey’s daughter, Maureen Comey, this JulyArguing that it provides “clear objective evidence of personal animosity that has no place in the exercise of government power.”
But the crux of his argument is Trump’s now-infamous Truth Social post last month Demanding that his Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecute Comey and other perceived enemies, which was allegedly a private message,
Trump said, “It’s a great case, and many lawyers and legal pundits say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you very much.” wrote,
“We cannot delay any longer, it is eroding our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and convicted me for nothing (5 times!). Justice must be served now!!!”
The message, Comey’s lawyers wrote, “is a direct admission that the decision to prosecute Mr. Comey was not based on a good-faith application of the law to the facts… [but] On President Trump’s years-long personal animosity.”
DOJ indictment concentrated Comey’s overly cautious testimony in the Senate in 2020, when he told Republican Ted Cruz he stood by his previous testimony in 2017 — while declining to comment on Cruz’s other questions.
At a 2017 hearing, he said that he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to leak to the press about the Trump investigation or the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Yet the indictment alleges that he actually authorized “Person 3” to release the information anonymously.
In their Monday motion, Comey’s lawyers said “Person 3” was an old friend of Comey’s named Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor turned Columbia Law School professor who was also an official adviser to the FBI.
Comey had previously said in Senate testimony that he had asked a friend, later identified as Richman, to serve as an anonymous source the new York Times About his conversation with Trump at the beginning of his first term.
It is unclear whether Richman ever disclosed any evidence regarding the specific matters about which Comey was questioned in 2017, nor whether Richman would count as someone “in the FBI.”