Alexandria, Virginia – ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Wednesday in the Justice Department criminal case Accusing him of lying to Congress five years ago.
The trial is expected to be brief, but the moment is laden with historical significance given that the case has amplified fears that The Department of Justice is being weaponized In pursuit of President Donald Trump’s political enemies and acting at the behest of a White House determined to seek revenge.
Comey is expected to plead not guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Va., beginning a process of legal wrangling in which defense lawyers will move almost to dismissal of the indictment before trial, perhaps by arguing that the case comes down to a selective or relative prosecutor.
The indictment two weeks ago followed an unusual series of events that took place Trump publicly accuses Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and other perceived adversaries. The president also replaced the veteran lawyer who was overseeing the investigation with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who had never served as a federal prosecutor. Halligan He rushed to file charges before the legal deadline had passed Despite warnings from other lawyers in the office that the evidence was insufficient for an indictment.
The two-year indictment alleges that Comey made a false statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020, by denying that he authorized an aide to serve as an anonymous source for the media, and that he obstructed congressional proceedings. Comey has denied any wrongdoing and said he looks forward to a trial. The indictment 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.
Although an indictment is usually just the beginning of a long court process, the Justice Department may take time Development itself is something of a win-winregardless of the result. Trump administration officials will likely point to any conviction as evidence that the case was well-justified, but an acquittal or even impeachment may also be viewed as additional support for their long-standing claim that the criminal justice system is stacked against them.
The judge randomly assigned to the case, Michael Nachmanoff, is a Biden administration appointee and a former chief federal prosecutor. Known for methodical preparation and a great temperament, the judge and his background have already caught the attention of the president, with Trump dragging him as a “Joe Biden-designated lecturer.”
The indictment was the latest chapter in a long-running relationship between Trump and Comey.
Trump came into office in January 2017. Cohey, who had been appointed to the job of FBI director by President Barack Obama four years earlier, had been overseeing an investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The dynamism was fraught from the beginning, With Comey Brealing Trump weeks before he takes office On the presence of ill-conceived and sexist gossip in a dossier of opposition research compiled by a former British spy.
In their first private interactions, Comey later reveals, Trump asked the FBI director to pledge his loyalty to him and dropped the FBI investigation into his administration First National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn. Trump also asked Comey to publicly disclose that Trump himself was not under investigation as part of the broader investigation into Russian election interference, which Comey chose not to do.
Comey was abruptly fired in May 2017 While at an event in Los Angeles, where Trump later said he was thinking about “this Russian thing” when he decided to end it. It was shooting Investigation by Justice Department Counsel Robert Mueller As an act of potential obstruction of justice.
In 2018 Comey published a memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” That painted Trump in ways that aren’t deeply corruptingShe likened him to the Mafia, without describing him as immoral and “unconnected with the truth.”
Trump, for his part, continued to vent angrily at Comey as the Mueller-led Russia investigation dominated headlines for the next two years and shadowed his first administration. On social media, he repeatedly claimed that Comey should face charges of “treason” — an accusation Comey dismissed as “stupid lies” — and called him a “one-ball of insincerity.”
___
Tucker reported from Washington.