The case against former FBI Director James Comey is a genuine bid to hold a public official accountable for wrongdoing — and not an extension of President Trump’s grudges, federal prosecutors argued Monday.
The feds also argued in both Comey’s case and in a bank fraud case against New York state Attorney General Letitia James that the appointment of Lindsey Halligan to the post of interim US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia was carried out lawfully — batting back arguments by Comey and James that their cases are invalid due to questions over her designation.
Attorneys for Comey, 64, had moved Oct. 20 to dismiss charges of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice, arguing Trump had targeted the former FBi boss for refusing to quash the long-running “Russiagate” investigation that overshadowed much of the 45th presidency.
But the Justice Department insisted in a 48-page filing in Alexandria, Va., federal court that “[t]he societal interests in this prosecution are readily apparent and overwhelming.
“The defendant is a former FBI Director who lied to Congress about his conduct while at the helm of the Nation’s primary federal law-enforcement agency,” read the brief submitted by prosecutor N. Tyler Lemons on behalf of interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan. “His prosecution implicates societal interests of the highest order.
“Nonetheless,” Lemons said of Comey, “he asks the Court to take the extraordinary step of dismissing his indictment because — he says — he is being vindictively and selectively prosecuted.”
The DOJ claims Comey falsely told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020 that he didn’t order leaks to the media about FBI investigations.
Comey argued in his motion to dismiss that when career prosecutors refused to open a case against him, Trump ousted the US attorney in favor of Halligan, a former personal attorney for the president who had no prosecutorial experience.
Comey argued in his motion to dismiss that when career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia refused to open a case against him, Trump ousted the US attorney in favor of Halligan, a former personal attorney for the president who had no prosecutorial experience.
The former bureau boss also cited Trump’s Sept. 20 Truth Social post directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his “guilty as hell” political enemies — including Comey — as evidence of targeting.
The DOJ responded that Comey’s claim of vindictive prosecution did not meet the “heavy burden” of proof.
“His evidence—a mix of news reports, socialmedia posts, and speculation—is hardly evidence at all. It certainly isn’t ‘direct evidence’ of a vindictive motive,” Lemons said. “And it fails to show that the prosecution was brought ‘solely’ to punish him for exercising a protected right.”
Prosecutors added that Trump “does not harbor vindictive animus against the defendant in the relevant sense.
“The defendant primarily cites the President’s social-media posts,” the filing read. “These posts reflect the President’s view that the defendant has committed crimes that should be met with prosecution. They may even suggest that the President disfavors the defendant. But they are not direct evidence of a vindictive motive … None of the President’s social-media posts express a desire for the defendant to be penalized for exercising his First Amendment rights. Far from it.
“The President’s social-media posts are clear on why he thinks the defendant should be prosecuted,” Lemons concluded, “he thinks the defendant is ‘guilty as hell.’ That is not an expression of vindictiveness.
Prosecutors have insisted that the circumstances of Halligan’s appointment does not “taint” the case against either Comey or James, who faces up to 60 years in prison on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial instution to get better terms on a loan she took out to purchase a home in Norfolk, Va.
Both Comey and James say that Halligan was appointed to be the interim US Attorney without the required input of Congress and that Attorney General Pam Bondi had already used up her opportunity to appoint someone to the vacant seat when she installed Halligan’s predecessor, Erik Siebert.
Siebert resigned as interim US attorney Sept. 19 after Trump publicly called him our for allegedly refusing to prosecute James. But since he was in the position for at least 120 days, Bondi couldn’t appoint another person to the vacant seat, Comey and James claimed.
Whitaker countered that each appointment that Bondi makes cannot exceed 120 days — not that she has a 120-day window to make non-Senate confirmed appointments — and since Halligan hasn’t been in office for that long, the indictments she secured against Comey and James are legitimate.
Comey’s Oct. 20 filing contended that Congress limited the AG’s power of appointment to 120 days total “to preclude precisely the maneuver here.
“A contrary interpretation would allow the government to string together sequential 120-day appointments … and thereby indefinitely or perpetually evade Congress’ default requirement of Senate advice and consent,” his attorneys argued.
James prosecutor Henry C. Whitaker argued that even if there was a problem with Halligan’s appointment, the cases should still proceed because Bondi “personally ratified the indictments to obviate any questions as to their validity.”
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The case against the New York AG turns on her purchase of a three-bedroom, one-bathroom residence with a $109,600 loan on Aug. 17, 2020, which was completed with a second home rider designating James as the “sole borrower to occupy and use the property.”
That statement netted the Empire State’s top law enforcement officer more favorable mortgage terms that benefited her to the tune of nearly $19,000.
However, prosecutors say the home “was not occupied or used” by James, but “was instead used as a rental investment property” to house her grandniece Nakia Thompson.
James has pleaded not guilty and her trial is set for Jan. 26, 2026. Her lawyers didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Comey has also pleaded not guilty and is slated to go on trial on Jan. 5, 2026. His legal team did not immediately return a request for comment.
