Former FBI Director James Comey’s legal team is calling for the case against him to be dismissed after President Donald Trump publicly called for his prosecution and celebrated his indictment.
Comey’s lawyers filed a 51-page motion seeking to have the case dismissed on Monday.
They argued that the government singled out Comey for prosecution in part because of Trump’s “personal animus toward Mr. Comey” as well as his protected right to criticize Trump.
“Such a vindictive and selective prosecution violates the First Amendment, Due Process Clause, and equal protection principles,” the motion reads. “The proper remedy for this unconstitutional prosecution is dismissal with prejudice.”
The filing said that anything less than a dismissal that prevents prosecutors from refiling the case would be “insufficient in light of the government’s flagrant misconduct.”
Comey was charged with one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstructing a congressional proceeding last month related to testimony he gave in September 2020.
The former FBI director entered a not guilty plea earlier this month at a federal courthouse in Virginia. His lawyers indicated at the time that they would file a motion to have the case dismissed over vindictive prosecution.
On Monday, his lawyers argued the case arose from “multiple glaring constitutional violations and an egregious abuse of power by the federal government.”
The charges against Comey came after President Donald Trump publicly called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his political enemies in a social media post just days before the indictment.
The motion on Monday specifically noted Trump’s post while arguing for the case to be thrown out.
“President Trump’s social media post ordering his Attorney General to effectuate the prosecution of Mr. Comey, following years of personal attacks, constitutes a direct admission of discriminatory purpose to single out a perceived political enemy for prosecution,” it read.
On September 20, Trump posted what was reportedly meant to be a direct message to Bondi on Truth Social saying “nothing is being done” about his foes.
After Comey was charged, the president also sent out a series of celebratory Truth Social posts about the former FBI director and thanking the Justice Department. He has called Comey a “dirty cop” and insisted a “big price must be paid.”
The motion to dismiss included a breakdown of the president’s multiple posts on Truth Social after the indictment and his praise for his newly appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, but Comey’s team argued her appointment was unlawful.
The charges came after the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia resigned amid pressure to go after Trump’s perceived enemies. The president ended up appointing Halligan, a former beauty queen turned Trump personal lawyer, to become acting U.S. attorney just days before the statute of limitation in the Comey case.
“Within 48 hours of President Trump’s post, the Attorney General purported to appoint Lindsey Halligan—a White House aide without any prosecutorial experience—as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,” the motion noted about the timing of Halligan’s appointment.
“Just four days after her unlawful interim appointment, Ms. Halligan proceeded to seek and (narrowly) obtain a grand jury indictment against Mr. Comey,” it continued.
“Following that indictment—the result of highly irregular procedures—President Trump celebrated via social media and specifically thanked the FBI Director and Ms. Halligan for their work in securing the indictment,” the motion read.
Halligan, 36, has never prosecuted a case, but she personally presented the case before the grand jury which handed down the two count indictment.
The motion filed on Monday argued that should the court not dismiss the indictment outright, it should allow Comey discovery into the government’s prosecutorial decisions in the case and hold a hearing on vindictive and selective prosecution.
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