Comey's lawyers say case against him is driven by Trump's 'personal
animus' and must be thrown out
[October 21, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
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 challenge not only the substance of the
allegations but also 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 early 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 since, with Comey labeling Trump “unethical" and comparing
him to a mafia boss and Trump branding Comey an “untruthful slime ball”
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.
Comey's defense team had foreshadowed the arguments during his first and
only court appearance in the case, where he pleaded not guilty.
Though motions alleging vindictive prosecutions do not often succeed,
this one lays out a timeline of events intended to link Trump's demands
for a prosecution with the Justice Department's scramble to secure an
indictment last month just before the statute of limitations was set to
lapse.
Last month, for instance, he complained in a Truth Social post directed
to Attorney General Pam Bondi that “nothing is being done” on
investigations into some of his foes and called for action, specifically
referencing inquiries into Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia
James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
“JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” part of the message said.
He installed Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who had been one of
Trump's personal lawyers but had no experience as a federal prosecutor,
to run the Eastern District of Virginia and replace Erik Siebert, who
had resigned as U.S. attorney one day earlier amid administration
pressure to charge Comey and James. Comey was indicted days later.
Comey's lawyers argued that that social media post represented an
admission that the government was prosecuting Comey for “an
impermissible discriminatory purpose.”
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Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill
Washington, Dec. 17, 2018. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“For many years, President Trump has sought to prosecute or
otherwise punish Mr. Comey because of overt hostility to Mr. Comey's
protected speech and because of his personal bias against Mr. Comey,"
the attorneys said.
“But despite President Trump's yearslong campaign to prosecute Mr.
Comey, no career or appointed prosecutor had ever agreed to do so,"
they added. "Thus, Mr. Trump made clear to his Attorney General that
the only way to achieve ‘JUSTICE’ against Mr. Comey was by ousting
Mr. Siebert and installing Ms. Halligan."
The indictment accuses Comey of having misled the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Sept. 30, 2020, in response to questions from
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz about whether Comey had authorized a news
media leak. But Comey's lawyers say the indictment misstates his
exchange with Cruz, attributing to Comey statements he did not make.
The defense team says the indictment omits context from Cruz's
question that made clear he was asking Comey if he had authorized
his deputy director, Andrew McCabe, to serve as an anonymous source
to the news media. The lawyers say the indictment misleadingly
suggests the questioning from Cruz concerned another person, a
Columbia law professor and Comey friend named Daniel Richman. An
earlier FBI investigation into whether Comey had disclosed
classified information through Richman concluded there was
insufficient evidence to charge either man.
Defense lawyers in a separate motion argued that the case was
“fatally flawed” because Halligan was unlawfully appointed before
she signed the indictment late last month.
“The President and Attorney General appointed the President’s
personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear
statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an
outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant
statute of limitations was set to expire,” defense lawyers said.
That motion is expected to be heard by a different judge than the
trial judge, Michael Nachmanoff.
Halligan is not the only U.S. attorney facing a court challenge.
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia heard arguments Monday in a
case challenging the tenure of Alina Habba as New Jersey's top
federal prosecutor. A panel of judges did not immediately rule but
questioned the propriety of maneuvers meant to keep Habba in her
job.
Separately Monday, defense lawyers pushed back in court papers on a
suggestion by the Justice Department that Fitzgerald might have to
step aside from the case.
Prosecutors late Sunday asserted in a court filing that Comey's
“lead defense counsel” had earlier been used by Comey to disclose
classified information and might therefore need to be disqualified.
The defense team Monday called that allegation “provably false” and
defamatory.
___
Associated Press writer Mike Catalini in Philadelphia contributed.
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