Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges at his arraignment on Wednesday, where his legal team immediately announced plans to file several motions aimed at having the case dismissed before it goes to a jury.
Comey faces up to five years in prison if convicted on charges of providing false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. However, his attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, stated in court that they plan to challenge the prosecution with at least five motions, including an “outrageous government conduct” motion.
Fitzgerald directly implicated the former president, declaring, “This prosecution was brought by President Trump.”
The core of the defense strategy is to argue that the case is a vindictive and selective prosecution. Comey’s lawyers will challenge the appointment of the prosecutor in Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, who is a former White House aide appointed as the Eastern District of Virginia’s interim U.S. Attorney just three days before she presented the case to a grand jury.
The defense will also question the fairness of the grand jury proceedings. Oral arguments on these challenges are scheduled for November and December, with a trial tentatively set for January 5, expected to last two to three days.
The charges stem from Comey’s 2020 congressional testimony, where he allegedly lied about his knowledge of a leak of classified information. The indictment claims Comey falsely testified that “he had not authorized someone else to be an anonymous source in news reports.”
The person Comey is accused of authorizing to leak the information is referred to in the documents as “Person 3,” who is reportedly his longtime friend and Columbia Law School professor, Daniel Richman.
The political backdrop is highly relevant; Donald Trump summarily fired Comey in 2017 over the FBI’s investigation into Russian election meddling. In a social media post addressed to the Attorney General in September, the former president openly called for the Justice Department to target several of his political foes, including Comey, writing, “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
During the arraignment, Judge Michael Nachmanoff made it clear he intends to keep the case on a fast track, stating, “I’m not going to let things linger.” The judge emphasized the pressure on the government to quickly turn over evidence, especially given the likelihood that classified documents will be a key part of the case.
Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the prosecution on Fox News, insisting that Comey’s case represents the “equal application of the law” and that he is being treated exactly like any other charged individual.
However, the prosecution faces its own hurdles, as they will likely have to defend against the argument that Trump’s own inflammatory public statements biased the case an argument Trump’s own attorneys have used in other federal cases.
Securing the indictment against Comey was reportedly difficult for the Justice Department, with one interim U.S. Attorney even resigning following continued pressure to bring charges against Trump’s political enemies.
