By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing on Monday that their false statements case against former FBI Director James Comey is centered around discussions he allegedly had with an associate to shape news coverage of Comey’s controversial decision to reopen a probe into Democrat Hillary Clinton weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
The Justice Department’s filing sought to push back on Comey’s claim he is being improperly prosecuted because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “personal spite” against him.
Comey is accused of lying in 2020 when he told a Senate committee he stood by prior testimony that he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source in news reports about investigations into Trump and Clinton.
Comey has pleaded not guilty to false statements and obstruction charges and his defense has begun a multi-pronged fight to have the case dismissed before a trial. The case is one of three criminal prosecutions targeting perceived enemies of Trump the Justice Department has brought in recent weeks.
The wide-ranging filing from the Justice Department was the first to substantively detail the case against Comey and included allegations that have little relevance to the charges he faces.
Prosecutors dismissed concerns that Trump’s animus toward Comey motivated the prosecution, arguing that Trump’s social media posts attacking Comey as a leaker indicate a “legitimate prosecutorial motive” for the case.
The court filing describes alleged conversations between Comey and former FBI special employee and law professor Daniel Richman in which Comey bemoans news coverage about his decision to announce the reopening of an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server in October 2016.
“Perhaps you can make him smarter,” Comey wrote to Richman, referring to a reporter for The New York Times.
Richman later wrote to Comey that he “got the point home” to a reporter writing about Comey’s actions, according to the filing.
Comey’s decision to reopen the probe, based on new evidence that came into the FBI’s possession, became a major flashpoint in the final weeks of the 2016 election and was cited by some Clinton supporters as a reason she lost to Trump.
The Justice Department’s internal watchdog in 2018 faulted Comey for his handling of the Clinton investigation, but found no evidence of political bias. Prosecutors during Trump’s first term opted not to seek charges against Comey.
Trump for years has assailed Comey over his handling of an FBI investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. Comey, after being fired by Trump in 2017, emerged as a sharp critic of Trump.
Comey has asked a judge to dismiss the case, arguing he was punished for exercising his free speech rights to criticize the president.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Richard Chang)
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