Former FBI Director James on Monday filed a motion to dismiss his federal criminal case claiming “vindictive prosecution.”
Comey also challenged the appointment of US Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted former FBI Director James Comey last month. He was indicted on two counts – false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
If convicted, James Comey is facing up to five years in prison.
Comey is attacking the federal criminal case citing “vindictive prosecution” and by challenging Lindsey Halligan’s appointment.
Last month President Trump announced he appointed Lindsey Halligan as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he fired US Attorney Erik Siebert.
Trump fired Siebert because he refused to charge Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff.
Lindsey Halligan was sworn in as Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a few days later she indicted James Comey.
CNBC reported:
Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday asked a federal judge to dismiss his criminal case, arguing that he is being vindictively prosecuted because of President Donald Trump’s animus toward him.
Comey, in a pair of motions for dismissal filed in federal court in eastern Virginia, also argued that the indictment against him is fatally flawed because his prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, was appointed unlawfully.
Comey wants U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to dismiss the case “with prejudice,” meaning the government cannot appeal the ruling.
“Any lesser remedy would be insufficient in light of the government’s flagrant misconduct and the need to deter the government from bringing further unconstitutional prosecutions,” his lawyers wrote in one of the court motions.
In the other filing, Comey’s legal team argued that Halligan’s actions should be nullified because she was “defectively” installed in violation of a federal law governing the appointment of interim U.S. attorneys by the attorney general.