Anadolu: Former FBI Director James Comey announced Monday that he has launched efforts to have federal charges against him directed by US President Donald Trump dropped, according to media outlets.
Comey faces charges for allegedly lying and committing obstruction during congressional testimony of the Trump-Russia probe related to the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won to secure his first term in office.
He said the claims against him are the result of a personal vendetta against him by the president and that the charges he faces are illegitimate.
He has pleaded not guilty to both counts.
“Objective evidence establishes that President Trump directed the prosecution of Mr. Comey in retaliation for Mr. Comey’s public criticisms and to punish Mr. Comey because of personal spite,” said Comey’s attorneys in court documents, adding that he was “singled out” for prosecution because he has publicly criticized the president and Trump has made no secret of his hatred for Comey.
Legal experts said the threshold for a judge to dismiss a criminal case because it was selectively or vindictively prosecuted is high because it requires defendants to prove in court that prosecutors held a certain animus towards them which led to charges in a case that might otherwise not have been brought.
Comey’s attorneys pointed to a social media post by Trump before his indictment that they claim reached that threshold.
“JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote, with what Comey’s lawyers argued was a directive by the president instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring the charges.
As Comey’s case continues to play out in the public, legal experts said it is possible that judges could be more receptive to the claim that Comey was unfairly targeted because of the unusual amount of public comments made by Trump and other administration officials attacking Comey and other political enemies of the president the Justice Department is pursuing criminal charges against.
The Justice Department has already handed out criminal indictments to New York Attorney General Letitia James and Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton.
