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 US 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 January 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