(Washington) Former FBI Director James Comey, designated by Donald Trump to his Justice Department as a priority target, called on Monday for the cancellation of the proceedings against him, arguing that they were motivated solely by the American president’s “personal grudge”.
Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed during his electoral campaign his desire, once returned to power, to take revenge on all those he considers personal enemies.
James Comey, 64, is the first of these personalities to be indicted since January 20, the start of the Republican’s second term.
Prosecuted for obstructing a parliamentary commission of inquiry and making false statements to Congress, the former director of the federal police pleaded not guilty on October 8.
His lawyer then announced that he would request the cancellation of the proceedings, arguing that they were motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as the “illegal” appointment of the prosecutor designated by Donald Trump.
“President Trump ordered the Department of Justice to prosecute Mr. Comey out of personal grudges and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his behavior in office,” he wrote in his appeal filed Monday.
“As no professional prosecutor wanted to carry out these orders, the president publicly forced the interim prosecutor to resign and instructed the attorney general to deliver ‘justice’,” he recalls.
In September, Donald Trump publicly put pressure on his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, expressing surprise on his Truth Social platform that James Comey had still not been indicted, as had two other of his pet peeves.
After pushing the attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to resign, the Republican president immediately replaced him in this strategic position with Lindsey Halligan, a White House advisor.
It was the latter who personally initiated the proceedings which led to the indictment on September 25 of James Comey, in relation to his oral testimony in the Senate in September 2020, a few days before the expiration of the statute of limitations for the facts with which he is accused.
He is accused of having lied under oath by denying, in response to a question from a senator, having authorized his deputy to be quoted anonymously in the media on sensitive investigations conducted by the FBI.
James Comey was abruptly fired from his post as federal police chief during Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, while the FBI was investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
