上个月的对詹姆斯·科米的起诉科米的律师周一在一份长达51页的文件中辩称，向国会提交虚假陈述的指控是唐纳德·特朗普总统多年来不懈施压的结果，特朗普打破了司法部的规范，违反了多项法律，侵犯了这位前美国联邦调查局导演的言论自由权。
科米不服罪本月早些时候，一项虚假陈述和一项妨碍国会诉讼的指控与他2020年在参议院司法委员会的证词有关，批评者称特朗普是报复运动对抗他的政敌。副总统JD Vance曾表示，任何此类起诉都是“由法律而不是政治驱动的”
特朗普直接要求他的司法部长“现在就行动!!!"上个月在社交媒体上发布的一篇帖子中起诉科米和其他政敌的同时，还提交了一份广泛详细的声明，这些声明可以追溯到2017年，特朗普在声明中公开呼吁指控科米。
科米不认罪，将寻求驳回报复性起诉
这后续安装科米的律师在提交的文件中称，白宫助理兼保险律师林赛·哈利根(Lindsey Halligan)对职业检察官的反对提起诉讼，对指控“建立了令人反感和不诚实的动机”。
“特朗普总统下令司法部(DOJ)起诉科米，是因为个人恩怨，也是因为科米经常批评特朗普的执政行为，”文件称。“当没有职业检察官执行这些命令时，总统公开迫使临时联邦检察官辞职，并指示司法部长对科米先生实行‘正义’。然后，他任命一名没有起诉经验的白宫助手担任临时联邦检察官。总统新钦点的临时联邦检察官几天后，也就是相关诉讼时效即将到期的几天前，起诉了科米。"
科米的律师要求美国地区法官迈克尔·纳克曼诺夫(Michael Nachmanoff)以“带有偏见”的方式驳回此案，这将禁止政府就科米2020年向国会作证一事再次起诉科米，以便为司法部寻求的其他出于政治动机的起诉树立榜样，并防止科米面临“潜在的长期被报复性起诉的状态”。
"“客观证据表明，特朗普总统指示起诉科米，是为了报复科米的公开批评，并因为个人恩怨惩罚科米，”科米的律师说这种报复性起诉不符合政府的合法利益，也违背了基本的宪法价值观。"
“正当程序和平等保护的基本原则长期以来确保政府官员不得利用法院来惩罚和监禁他们认为的个人和政治敌人。但这正是这里发生的事情，”科米的律师周一提交的两项动议之一说。特朗普总统下令司法部(DOJ)起诉科米先生，因为他个人怀有恶意，也因为科米先生经常批评特朗普总统在任期间的行为。"
科米的律师提交了两份单独的驳回动议——一份认为针对科米的案件是报复行为，另一份质疑提出指控的代理美国检察官哈利根的法律权威。
该文件反复引用了系列故事美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)详细报道了科米被起诉前几天弗吉尼亚州东区美国检察官办公室的动荡，包括特朗普驱逐美国检察官埃里克·西伯特(Erik Siebert)的举动，原因是他反对对总统的敌人提起诉讼，职业检察官认为这些案件没有法律依据。
同样在周一，科米的法律团队回应了联邦检察官提交的一份法庭文件，该文件显示，他们可能会要求科米的首席律师帕特里克·菲茨杰拉德(Patrick Fitzgerald)回避此案，指控政府律师试图通过暗示菲茨杰拉德参与犯罪活动来诋毁他。
在周日晚些时候的一份法庭文件中，检察官告诉法官迈克尔·纳奇曼诺夫(Michael Nachmanoff)，在科米于2017年被唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统解雇后，菲茨杰拉德涉嫌参与向媒体提供信息，这可能“通报潜在的冲突和取消资格问题”。
在周日晚些时候提交的文件中，检察官指控科米在2017年将菲茨杰拉德作为中介，以“不当披露机密信息”，这些信息与科米分享的回忆他与特朗普总统几次互动的备忘录有关。
检察官给美国新律师的备忘录没有找到指控詹姆斯·科米的合理理由:消息来源
然而，根据IG迈克尔·霍罗威兹发布的一份报告，DOJ监察长的调查发现，“没有证据表明科米或他的律师向媒体发布了任何备忘录中包含的任何机密信息”。
“将犯罪行为归咎于科米或他的首席辩护律师，没有善意的依据，”科米的律师周一在回应中表示。“同样，声称科米先生和他的律师之间存在‘冲突’也没有善意的依据，更没有理由要求取消首席辩护律师的资格。”
在周一提交的文件中，科米的律师进一步提出了对政府审查证据的担忧，这些证据可能被视为科米和他的律师之间的特许通信，他们写道，这“似乎”...不合法。”
他们要求法官纳克曼诺夫拒绝DOJ提出的请求，即加快对证据的审查，以确定哪些材料可以享受特权，并写道，给他们足够的时间来回应动议“以避免践踏科米的法律特权，并确保政府不会进行非法审查”，这一点很重要
哈里根被特朗普任命为弗吉尼亚州东区的美国检察官，就在四天前，她前往大陪审团，寻求对科米的指控，据消息人士称职业检察官的反对意见.
大陪审团最终投票决定起诉科米，罪名是哈利根寻求的三项指控中的两项，涉及科米2020年关于美国联邦调查局的国会证词俄罗斯调查以及科米是否授权向媒体泄露匿名信息。科米否认了所有指控。
虽然法律专家认为，基于恶意起诉的论点推翻起诉的门槛非常高，但科米的案件应该是对法律标准的一次独特考验，因为特朗普驱逐了拒绝提起指控的办公室高级检察官，他在社交媒体上公开呼吁司法部长帕姆·邦迪“现在”采取行动起诉科米和其他政敌。
Lawyers for Comey ask judge to dismiss charges based on prosecutors' 'flagrant misconduct'
Last month'sindictment of James Comeyon charges of making false statements to Congress was the result of a yearslong relentless pressure campaign by President Donald Trump that shattered Justice Department norms and violated multiple laws and the former FBI director's free speech rights, Comey's attorneys argued Monday in a sweeping 51-page filing seeking dismissal of his case.
Comeypleaded not guiltyearlier this month to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics call Trump'scampaign of retributionagainst his perceived political foes. Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are "driven by law and not by politics."
Trump's direct calls for his attorney general toact "NOW!!!"to prosecute Comey and other political enemies in a social media post last month was accompanied in the filing by an extensive detailing of statements dating back to 2017 in which Trump publicly called for Comey to be charged.
Thesubsequent installationof White House aide and insurance lawyer Lindsey Halligan to bring the prosecution over the objections of career prosecutors "establishes an invidious and badfaith motivation" to the charges, Comey's attorneys argued in the filing.
"President Trump ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute Mr. Comey because of personal spite and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office," the filing argued. "When no career prosecutor would carry out those orders, the President publicly forced the interim U.S. Attorney to resign and directed the Attorney General to effectuate 'justice' against Mr. Comey.He then installed a White House aide with no prosecutorial experience as interim U.S. Attorney.The President's new hand-picked interim U.S. Attorney indicted Mr. Comey just days later -- and days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire."
Comey's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to dismiss the case "with prejudice," which would bar the government from seeking to charge Comey again over his 2020 testimony to Congress -- in order to set an example for other politically-motivated prosecutions sought by the Justice Department as well as preventing Comey from facing "a potential perpetual state of being vindictively prosecuted."
"Objective evidence establishes that President Trump directed the prosecution of Mr. Comey in retaliation for Mr. Comey's public criticisms and to punish Mr. Comey because of personal spite," Comey's attorneys said. "Such a vindictive prosecution serves no legitimate government interest and contradicts fundamental constitutional values."
"Bedrock principles of due process and equal protection have long ensured that government officials may not use courts to punish and imprison their perceived personal and political enemies.But that is exactly what happened here," said one of two motions filed by Comey's attorneys Monday. "President Trump ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute Mr. Comey because of personal spite and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office."
Comey's lawyers filed two separate motions to dismiss -- one arguing the case against Comey was vindictive and another calling into question the legal authority of Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney who brought the charges.
The filing repeatedly cites aseries of storiesfrom ABC News that detailed the turmoil in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in the days leading up to Comey's indictment, including Trump's move to oust U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert over his objections to bringing cases against the president's enemies that career prosecutors had determined had no merit.
Also on Monday, Comey's legal team responded to a court filing from federal prosecutors that suggested they may move to have Comey's lead attorney Patrick Fitzgerald disqualified from the case, accusing the government's attorneys of seeking to defame Fitzgerald by implying he engaged in criminal activity.
In a court filing late Sunday night, prosecutors told Judge Michael Nachmanoff that Fitzgerald's alleged involvement in providing information to the media for Comey after Comey was fired by President Donald Trump in 2017 could "inform a potential conflict and disqualification issue."
In their filing late Sunday, prosecutors accused Comey of using Fitzgerald as an intermediary in 2017 to "improperly disclose classified information" related to memos Comey shared recounting several of his interactions with President Trump.
An investigation by the DOJ's inspector general, however, found "no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the Memos to the media," according to a report issued by IG Michael Horowitz.
"There is no good faith basis for attributing criminal conduct to either Mr. Comey or his lead defense counsel," Comey's attorneys said Monday in their response. "Similarly, there is no good faith basis to claim a 'conflict' between Mr. Comey and his counsel, much less a basis to move to disqualify lead defense counsel."
In their filing Monday, Comey's attorneys further raised concerns about the government's review of evidence that could be considered privileged communications between Comey and his lawyers, writing that it "appears ... unlawful."
They have asked Judge Nachmanoff to deny a request by the DOJ to expedite a review of the evidence to determine which materials could be covered by privilege, writing that it's important to give them ample time to respond to the motion "to avoid trampling on Mr. Comey's legal privileges and to ensure that the government does not proceed with an unlawful review."
Halligan was appointed by Trump as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia just four days before she went to a grand jury and sought Comey's indictment over what sources say were theobjections of career prosecutors.
The grand jury ultimately voted to indict Comey on two of three charges sought by Halligan related to Comey's 2020 congressional testimony regarding the FBI'sRussia probeand whether Comey authorized leaks of anonymous information to the media.Comey has denied all charges.
While legal experts argue there's an extraordinarily high bar for tossing a prosecution based on the argument of malicious prosecution, Comey's case should be a unique test of the legal standard, given Trump's ousting of the office's senior prosecutor who resisted bringing charges and his public call on social media for Attorney General Pam Bondi to act "now" to prosecute Comey and other political enemies.
