Comey’s lawyers say case against him is driven by Trump’s ‘personal animus’ and must be thrown out

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey urged a judge Monday to dismiss the case against him, calling it a vindictive prosecution motivated by “personal animus” and orchestrated by a White House determined to seek retribution against a perceived foe of President Donald Trump.

The lawyers separately called for the indictment’s dismissal because of what they said was the illegitimate appointment of the U.S. attorney who filed the case days after being hastily named to the job by Trump.

The two-prong attack on the indictment, which accuses Comey of lying to Congress five years ago, represents the opening salvo in what is expected to be a protracted court fight ahead of a trial currently set for Jan. 5. The motions take aim not at the substance of the allegations but rather on the unusual circumstances of the prosecution, which included Trump exhorting his attorney general to bring charges against Comey as well as his administration’s abrupt installation of a White House aide to serve as top prosecutor of the elite office overseeing the case.

“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,” wrote Comey’s defense team, which includes Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. Attorney in Chicago and a longtime Comey friend. “But that is exactly what happened here.”

They said the Justice Department had brought the case because of Trump’s hatred of Comey, who as FBI director in the first months of Trump’s first term infuriated the president through his oversight of an investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. Trump fired Comey in May 2017. The two have been open adversaries in the years since, with Comey labeling Trump “unethical” and comparing him to a mafia boss and Trump branding Comey an “untruthful slimeball” and calling for him to be punished because of the Russia investigation.

“The government has singled out Mr. Comey for prosecution because of his protected speech and because of President Trump’s personal animus toward Mr. Comey,” defense lawyers wrote, adding that such a “vindictive and selection prosecution” violates multiple provisions of the Constitution and must be dismissed.