Former FBI chief Comey seeks dismissal of Trump ‘spite’ charges

Former FBI Director James Comey, arrivex to testify under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Former FBI director James Comey asked a federal court on Monday to throw out his felony charges on the grounds they were motivated by the “personal spite” of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Comey, 64, a prominent Trump critic, said the case against him is a “vindictive and selective prosecution” and should be dismissed.

Comey pleaded not guilty this month to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

He was the first of three outspoken critics of the Republican president to be indicted in recent weeks in what is widely seen as a campaign of retribution against Trump’s political opponents.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump, was indicted this month on one count of bank fraud and a second count of making false statements to a financial institution.

Another Trump critic, his former national security advisor John Bolton, was indicted last week on 18 counts of transmitting and retaining classified information.

Comey’s lawyers, in a filing with a district court in Virginia, said his prosecution is an “egregious abuse of power by the federal government.”

“The United States Constitution entitles individuals to speak out against the government and, in turn, forbids the government from retaliating against individuals for their protected speech,” they said.

“President Trump ordered the Department of Justice to prosecute Mr Comey because of personal spite and because Mr Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office,” they added.

Comey’s lawyers noted that the charges were brought by a U.S. attorney who was hand-picked by Trump after the previous federal prosecutor declined to proceed with the case.

Comey’s indictment stems from sworn testimony he gave to a Senate committee in 2020 on the probe he led into whether any members of the Trump presidential campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 election.

He is accused of falsely stating he had not authorized another FBI employee to be an anonymous source in news reports.

He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Comey was appointed to head the FBI by then-president Barack Obama in 2013 and was fired by Trump in 2017.

The charges against Comey came days after Trump publicly urged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against the former FBI director and others he sees as enemies -- a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free from White House pressure.

The 79-year-old Trump -- the first convicted felon to serve as US president -- hailed the indictment, calling Comey “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against perceived enemies, purging government officials he deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him and pulling federal funding from universities.