More than 100 former Justice Department officials are pushing a federal judge to dismiss the criminal case against former FBI director James Comey, alleging the prosecution is driven by political motives rather than legal merit, the Washington Post reports. The group—which spans both Republican and Democratic administrations and includes former attorneys general and US attorneys—submitted an amicus brief on Monday to presiding US District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, highlighting concerns that longstanding prosecutorial norms have been discarded under the Trump administration.
The officials cite Justice Department policies that prohibit political considerations from influencing charging decisions, as well as ethical guidelines barring cases unsupported by probable cause. Comey's own attorneys have pointed to a social media post in which President Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey, and note that career prosecutors initially declined to pursue the case due to insufficient evidence. Those prosecutors were subsequently fired or sidelined, his defense team says, with a Trump loyalist eventually installed to lead the case.
While amicus briefs rarely sway judges, the signatories hope their collective experience will underscore the importance of prosecutorial independence in this high-profile case. In a separate amicus brief also submitted Monday, a group of professors who all research the weakening of democratic norms are also calling for the case to be dismissed, Courthouse News reports. "It is essential to view Mr. Comey's prosecution in the larger context of how politicized prosecutions are used in autocracies and backsliding democracies and the risks that even one such prosecution poses," they write.
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