Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in September for making false statements and obstruction related to congressional testimony offered while serving as FBI director.
Comey’s defense team has been making moves to try to have the case against him dismissed, but Attorney General Pam Bondi just threw a wrench into his plans.
Bondi is now trying to have Comey's lead defense counsel removed from the case due to an alleged conflict of interest.
The indictment of Comey shook the political world, with Democrats and the media once again saying that Trump was weaponizing the DOJ, not for a second ever considering that the former FBI chief had actually done something wrong.
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stated, “The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level.”
She continued, “The balance of power is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and it relies upon accountability and a forthright presentation of facts from executive leadership to congressional oversight. Any intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance is a violation of professional responsibility and, most importantly, the law.”
The majority of the controversy around this indictment centers on the fact that Halligan’s predecessor did not want to prosecute the case and was relieved of duty as a result. But I have taken the position that if someone is working at a business and refuses to do their job, would they not also be fired? If there is a real case here, and a grand jury indictment suggests that there is, how can you argue against it?
That is a hot-button phrase for Democrats when it comes to Trump, and they revived it after this indictment was announced.
For example, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) stated, "We aren't on a slippery slope to a constitutional crisis. We are IN the crisis. Time for leaders -- political leaders, business leaders, civic leaders - to pick a side: democracy or autocracy?”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) added, "As if by magic, within mere days of being appointed, Ms. Halligan delivered for the president by filing the exact baseless charges against Mr. Comey that her predecessor had rejected.”
Again, everyone in the mainstream media is failing to mention that the indictment came down via a grand jury, where prosecutors have to show strong indications that a crime likely occurred. Indictments are not always easy to get, but once this case was presented, prosecutors had very little trouble securing charges.
The DOJ is now trying to have Patrick Fitzgerald, who is overseeing Comey’s defense, removed from his team due to an alleged conflict of interest.
Assistant U.S. attorneys Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz argued, "Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information.”
Comey’s defense team responded, "In short, there is no good faith basis for attributing criminal conduct to either Mr. Comey or his lead defense counsel.” They added, "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.”
The challenge, as I see it in this case, is that the DOJ has not charged Comey for releasing classified information; rather, it claims that he lied about the issue during congressional testimony. That would seem to be the weak point of this case, so it will be interesting to see how Comey’s team exploits that at trial if the matter gets that far (I am always fearful a liberal judge will dismiss the case before it ever gets inside the courtroom).
