WASHINGTON: The American criminal affair against the former director of the FBI, James Comey, breaks the standards of independence in federal surveys and will face important obstacles in court, according to legal experts.
But for President Donald Trump, the final verdict may be lower than the transition of an exact compensation against an official who investigated him and the warning to others whom he considers as political enemies.
Comey, who was charged Thursday for accusations of false statements and the obstruction of a Congress procedure, led the FBI when he began an investigation into the links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government.
Comey professed his innocence and swore to fight the case in court.
Since Trump returned to office in January, he used his powers as president for the law firms in the hamstrings who represented causes he does not like, exploited federal funding to force changes in universities and dismissed prosecutors who participated in investigations against him.
He also put pressure for the former national security advisor John Bolton, the prosecutor general of New York Letitia James and the Democratic senator Adam Schiff.
Asked about Comey’s indictment on Friday, Trump told journalists: “I think there will be others.”
The indictment marked the first time that his administration used the power of criminal proceedings against an eminent adversary. He came after Trump openly demanded that Comey was faced with accusations and called for the abolition of a prosecutor who did not think that the case was strong.
“The training effect is enormous,” said Rebecca Roiphe, professor of law at New York University. “If you are someone who opposes the president or the administration or presents a kind of obstacle to his program, you do so at serious risks.”
The leaders of the Ministry of Justice described the case as a strike against political corruption and the improper use of the police. Trump and his allies have long said that the investigation in Russia was a politically biased effort to undermine his first administration.
“Today’s accusation act reflects the commitment of this Ministry of Justice to hold those who abuse positions of power responsible for having deceived the American people,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement.
The vice-prosecutor General Todd Blanche denied that the Ministry of Justice was put under pressure to charge Comey, saying to the “America’s reports” of Fox News that Trump “wants us to do our job”.
Upcoming legal hedges
The case against Comey faces several legal obstacles to a potential conviction, legal experts said.
It is led by Lindsey Halligan, a lawyer who represented Trump in civil dispute and has no experience of previous prosecution.
In an unusual decision, Halligan, that Trump appointed the American lawyer for the Virginia Oriental District, personally presented the case to a large jury, sources told Reuters. No career prosecutor at the office signed the indictment.
Prosecutors must prove both that Comey’s declaration was false and that it had a substantial impact on a Congress survey on the FBI treatment of probes on Trump and its 2016 electoral rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The accusation act alleys that Comey lied when he declared to the Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas in 2020 that he was held behind a previous testimony that he had not authorized anyone in the FBI to be an anonymous source in the reports.
The indictment does not appoint the investigation or report in question, but a source familiar with the case told Reuters that it relates to Comey’s alleged decision to authorize his friend, the law professor Daniel Richman, to share information on a survey linked to Clinton. The document does not detail the evidence collected against Comey.
“The underlying premise of false declaration costs is at best incredibly thin,” said Bradley Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security affairs.
Another potential obstacle is Trump’s own intervention in the survey. Halligan’s predecessor Erik Siebert, another named against Trump, resigned under pressure after expressed reluctance about the case.
Trump then mentioned Comey by name in an article on social networks, demanding “Justice must be done, now!” After the indictment, Trump wrote about Comey, “he lied” and “there is no way he can explain it”.
Such declarations could be grey for a defense argument that the accusation is vindictive or selective, which means that Comey was poorly distinguished for prosecution.
Legal experts have said that such arguments are difficult to win, but that Trump’s actions and declarations file could give Comey a solid case.
