Bipartisan DOJ Alumni Urge Judge to Throw Out Comey Case
Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington in December 2018. ((AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File))
A bipartisan coalition of more than 100 former Justice Department officials is urging a federal judge to dismiss the criminal case against James Comey, calling the prosecution politically motivated.
The group—comprising former attorneys general and U.S. attorneys who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations—filed an amicus brief Monday in a Virginia federal court, according to the Washington Post. The filing argues that the decision to prosecute the former FBI director “was not the product of the evenhanded judgment of a disinterested prosecutor,” but instead “an act of personal retribution by the President.”
The brief further claims that President Trump’s administration has strayed from long-standing Justice Department norms governing when to pursue criminal charges. It points to established policies that prohibit prosecutions based on political beliefs or associations and require charges to be backed by clear probable cause.
The signatories allege that the case against Comey represents “vindictive prosecution”—a difficult legal threshold to prove, but one they believe applies in this instance.
Comey, who was dismissed by President Trump during his first term, was charged last month with lying to Congress and has pleaded not guilty. While amicus briefs like this rarely sway a judge’s decision, the group hopes the weight of its collective experience will influence the court’s view of the case.
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