Former FBI Director James Comey has been criminated on charges of lying to Congress and gumming justice, just days after Donald Trump intimately prompted the Justice Department to make several of his critics.
The Justice Department blazoned the charges late Thursday, sparking fresh enterprises about whether Attorney General Pam Bondi is using the department to go after Trump’s political opponents.
Prosecutors purport Comey misled lawgivers during his 2020 Senate evidence about authorising leaks of classified information to the media. In a post on X, Bondi framed the charge as an illustration of holding important numbers responsible. “ moment’s charge reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power responsible for misleading the American people, ” she wrote.
But critics say the case looks like retribution. Laurie Levinson, a former civil prosecutor and law professor, told the BBC the traditional firewall between the White House and the Justice Department has “ fully collapsed. ” She called it “ unknown ” for a chairman to directly push for the charge of a specific existent out of particular wrathfulness.
Last week, Trump named Comey, Popular Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James in a Truth Social post, complaining the Justice Department was moving too sluggishly against them. Levinson said Trump has gone further than Richard Nixon, who kept an “ adversaries list, ” by replacing prosecutors who defied his retaliation docket with patriots willing to act.
The changes have been nippy. Days after the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia abnegated over fears of being fired for not executing James, Trump appointed Lindsey Halligan, a former particular counsel with no experience as a civil prosecutor, to the post. Halligan snappily brought the Comey case to a grand jury, which suggested to charge.
“ Everything about this smacks of vengeful execution, ” Levinson said.
Grand juries only need to find probable cause to bring charges, and prosecutors present substantiation without defence attorneys in the room. Annemarie McAvoy, a legal expert at Columbia University, said prosecutors may have evidence or documents to back up their claims.However, yes, I got the information from James Comey, “ If there are others who are willing to come forward and say.
Comey’s attorney said he denies the charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.
still, it could revive difficulties from the Russia election- poking disquisition during Trump’s first term, If the case goes to trial. The charges against Comey are n’t directly tied to that inquiry, but Trump and his abettors are formerly using the charge to attack the disquisition’s credibility. While the Russia inquiry proved attempts to impact the 2016 election, it set up no direct substantiation linking Trump to the hindrance.
After the charge was blazoned, Trump’s FBI director Kash Patel called the Russia inquiry a “ shy chapter in history ” and indicted former office leaders of weaponising their power. Now, those same allegations are being aimed at Patel, Bondi and Trump’s platoon.
The biggest question is whether Comey’s charge is a one- off meant to satisfy an angry chairman or the launch of a wider surge of executions against Trump’s critics.
