ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a criminal case that put the Justice Department in the spotlight. efforts to target adversaries from President Donald Trump, with the former FBI director’s lawyers saying they plan to argue that the lawsuits are politically motivated and should be dismissed.
The arraignment lasted less than half an hour, but was nonetheless fraught with historical significance given that the case amplified concerns. the Department of Justice is weaponized in pursuit of the Republican president’s political enemies and is acting at the behest of an administration determined to seek retaliation.
Comey’s not guilty plea to allegations that he lied to Congress five years ago sets off a process of legal wrangling that could culminate in a trial within months at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington. Defense attorneys said they intend to ask that the case be dismissed before trial on the grounds that it constitutes a vindictive prosecution and also plan to challenge the legitimacy of the appointment of the prosecutor who filed the complaint just days after Trump hastily appointed her to her post.
“It is the honor of my life to represent Mr. Comey in this matter,” one of Comey’s lawyers, Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime friend who served with him in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department, said in court Wednesday.
The indictment Two weeks ago, an extraordinary chain of events saw the Trump administration oust the prosecutor who oversaw the Comey investigation and replace him with Lindsey Halligana White House aide who was one of the president’s former lawyers but never served as a federal prosecutor. The president also publicly implored Attorney General Pam Bondi must take action against Comey and other perceived adversaries.
AP AUDIO: Comey pleads not guilty as lawyers signal intent to argue case is politically motivated
AP correspondent Mike Pesoli reports on the trial of a former FBI director.
Less than a week after his appointment, Halligan rushed to file a complaint before a legal deadline expired, despite warnings from other attorneys in the office that the evidence was insufficient for an indictment. She sat at the floor table on Wednesday.
In a sign of the unusual nature of the case, the two prosecutors who signed on to handle it are both based in North Carolina, as opposed to the elite Eastern District of Virginia, which Halligan now leads.
What the indictment says
Two-count indictment alleges Comey misled the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020, when asked if he had authorized an associate to serve as an anonymous source to the news media regarding investigations into Trump or 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Comey responded that he stood by earlier testimony that he had given no such authorization.
The two-count indictment charging him with making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding does not identify the associate or specify what information may have been discussed with the media, making it difficult to assess the strength of the evidence or even fully analyze the allegations.
Comey has denied any wrongdoing and said he looked forward to the trial, which the judge set for Jan. 5, although that date is subject to change.
Although an indictment is usually only the beginning of a lengthy legal process, the Department of Justice has trumpeted the development in itself as a sort of victory, whatever the outcome. Trump administration officials will likely point to any conviction as proof that the case was indeed justified, but an acquittal, or even a dismissal, could also be held up as further support for their long-standing claim that the criminal justice system is stacked against them.
The judge was appointed by Biden
The judge assigned to the case at random, Michael Nachmanoffwas appointed to the bench by the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and is a former federal defender in Virginia. Known for his methodical preparation and cold temper, the judge and his background have already caught Trump’s attention, with the president calling him a “crooked judge appointed by Joe Biden.”
He indicated in court Wednesday that he intended to move the case forward and would not allow unnecessary delays.
Several Comey family members were in court for his arraignment, including his daughter Maurene, who was licensed by the Department of Justice earlier this year from his post as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, as well as Troy Edwards Jr., a Comey son-in-law who, minutes after Comey, was indicted resigned from his job as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia – the office that filed the charges.
Comey is not the only Trump foe under investigation. Others include New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff of California. Lawyers for James and Schiffboth Democrats, consider the investigations unfounded.
The strained relationship between Trump and Comey
The indictment was the latest chapter in a long-broken relationship between Trump and Comey.
Trump came to office in January 2017 as Comey, appointed FBI director by President Barack Obama about four years earlier, was overseeing an investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The dynamic was heavy from the start, with Comey inform Trump weeks before taking office about the existence of uncorroborated and sexually salacious gossip in an opposition research dossier compiled by a former British spy.
During their subsequent private interactions, Comey would later reveal, Trump asked his FBI director to pledge loyalty to him and abandon an FBI investigation into his administration’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Comey said Trump also asked him to announce that Trump himself was not under investigation as part of a broader investigation into Russian election interference, which Comey did not do.
Comey was abruptly fired in May 2017, with Trump later saying he was thinking about “this Russia thing” when he decided to fire him. The shooting was investigation by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller as an act of potential obstruction of justice.
Comey published a memoir in 2018, “A Higher Loyalty,” which portrayed Trump in a deeply unflattering waycomparing him to a mobster and calling him unethical and “no connection to the truth.”
Trump, for his part, continued to express anger at Comey as Mueller’s Russia investigation dominated headlines over the next two years and cast a shadow over his first administration. On social media, he repeatedly claimed that Comey should face charges of “treason” — a charge Comey called “stupid lies” — and called him a “lying ball of slime.”
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Tucker reported from Washington.
