Alexandria, Virginie (AP) – Former FBI director James Comey, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to face a criminal case that highlighted the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to target the opponents of President Donald Trump.
The indictment should be brief, but the moment is nevertheless responsible for importance since the case has amplified the concerns that the Ministry of Justice is armed in the pursuit of Trump’s political enemies and operates at the request of a determined white house to request punishment for wrongs perceived against the president.
Comey pleaded not guilty through his lawyer at the Federal Justice of Alexandria, Virginia, to the allegations that he lied at Congress for five years. The advocacy launches a process of legal disappearance in which the defense lawyers will almost certainly move to have the indictment reject before the trial, possibly by arguing that the case is equivalent to a selective or vindictive prosecution.
The indictment two weeks ago followed a chain of extraordinary events that saw Trump publicly implore the Attorney General Pam Bondi to take measures against Comey and other perceived adversaries. The republican president also replaced the veteran lawyer who had supervised the investigation by Lindsey Halligan, an assistant from the White House who had never been federal prosecutor. Halligan rushed to file a complaint before a legal deadline, despite warnings from other office lawyers that evidence was insufficient for an indictment.
What the indictment says
The indictment to two counts alleged that Comey made a false statement to the senate judicial committee on September 30, 2020, by denying that he had authorized an associate to serve as an anonymous source in the media and that he hampered a convention procedure. Comey denied any reprehensible act and declared that he was impatiently awaiting a trial. The indictment does not identify the partner or say what information could be discussed with the media, which makes it difficult to assess the force of evidence or even to fully analyze the allegations.
Although an accusation act is generally only the beginning of an prolonged legal process, the Ministry of Justice deceived the development itself as a victory, whatever the result. Managers of the Trump administration are likely to highlight any conviction as proof that the case has been well justified, but an acquittal or even a dismissal can also be supported as additional support for their long -standing assertion that the criminal justice system is stacked against them.
The judge was appointed by Biden
The random judge attributed to the case, Michael Nachmanoff, was appointed to the bench by the democratic administration of President Joe Biden and is a former federal -in -chief defender. Known for his methodical preparation and a cool temperament, the judge and his history have already drawn the attention of Trump, the president leviating him as a judge appointed by Joe Biden. “”
In addition to Comey, the Ministry of Justice is also investigating other enemies of the President, including the Prosecutor General of New York Letitia James and the Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California.
On Wednesday morning, several members of the Comey family arrived in court before the indictment, including his daughter Maurene, who was dismissed by the Ministry of Justice earlier this year of his post as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, as well as Troy Edwards Jr., a Comey’s son -in -law who followed a few minutes after Comey was charged with his post office in the District of Virginia – The same office – the same office.
The heavy relationship of Trump and Comey
The indictment was the last chapter of a relationship for a long time between Trump and Comey.
Trump came to power in January 2017 while Comey, appointed to the FBI director by President Barack Obama, four years earlier, supervised an investigation into the links between Russia and the Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
The dynamics were loaded at the start, with Comey Briefing Trump of weeks before taking up his duties on the existence of non -corroborated and sexually Salaces gossip in a opposition research file compiled by a former British spy.
In their first private interactions, Comey will later reveal Trump, asked his FBI director to promise his loyalty to him and leave an FBI investigation into the first national security advisor to his administration, Michael Flynn. Comey said Trump also asked him to announce that Trump himself was not under investigation in the broader investigation into the Russian elections, which Comey did not do.
Comey was suddenly dismissed in May 2017 then during an event in Los Angeles, with Trump later saying that he thought of “this thing from Russia” when he decided to end him. The dismissal was the subject of an investigation by the Special Council of the Ministry of Justice, Robert Mueller, as an act of potential obstruction to justice.
Comey in 2018 published a dissertation, “higher loyalty”, which painted Trump in a deeply unflattering way, comparing it to a mafia donation and characterizing it as contrary to ethics and “not attached to the truth”.
Trump, for his part, continued to let off steam in Comey while the investigation in Russia led by Mueller dominated the big titles for the next two years and followed his first administration. On social networks, he said on several occasions that Comey should face accusations of “betrayal” – an accusation that Comey rejected as “stupid lies” – and called it a “slime lie”.
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Tucker reported Washington.
