Former FBI Director James Comey pleads not guilty and will argue he is unfairly targeted by Trump
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By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole, Katelyn Polantz, Betul Tuncer, Emily Condon, Dalia Abdelwahab, CNN
(CNN) — Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges at his arraignment Wednesday, where his lawyers said they plan to file several motions they hope will kill the case before it makes it to a jury.
Comey, if convicted on charges of providing false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding, faces up to five years in prison.
His team, however, plans to file at least five motions to try to have the case dismissed.
“This prosecution was brought by President Trump,” Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in court, adding that his team plans to file an “outrageous government conduct” motion.
Comey is also expected to challenge the appointment of the prosecutor in Virginia who brought the charges against him, Lindsey Halligan. Others will argue that the case is a vindictive and selective prosecution and question the fairness of the grand jury proceedings.
Oral arguments on the issues are scheduled to take place in November and December.
A trial was set for January 5 and attorneys on both sides said they expect it to last two to three days.
Prosecutors did not request that Comey be detained ahead of his trial.
Judge Michael Nachmanoff made clear Wednesday that he does not want the parties to slow-walk the fact-finding process in the trial.
“I’m not going to let things linger” in this case, Nachmanoff said, adding that he expects both sides to turn over evidence quickly.
“I will not slow this case down because the government does not promptly” turn over discovery, and prosecutors have “every interest” in doing so, the judge said.
Noting that classified documents will also be a key part of the case, Nachmanoff said “the government is under an enormous amount of pressure” to figure out how they want to deal with that evidence.
Fitzgerald, said at one point during the hearing that “it’s the honor of my life” to represent the former FBI director in the case.
The charges stem from Comey’s 2020 congressional testimony, where he allegedly lied about his knowledge of a leak of classified information that was later reported by several news outlets.
Comey had testified that “he had not authorized someone else to be an anonymous source in news reports,” the indictment said. “That statement was false.”
Trump summarily fired Comey in the first few months of his first term over the FBI’s investigation into Russian election meddling in the 2016 presidential election. In a social media post addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi in September, the president openly called for the Justice Department to go after several of his political foes, including Comey.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote to Bondi in the social media post. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent,” Comey said in a video message following his indictment late last month.
The former director added: “Let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”
Securing the indictment against Comey proved difficult for the Justice Department, and one interim US Attorney resigned following continued pressure to bring criminal charges against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Trump enemies.
Trump appointed Halligan, a White House aide who has never been a prosecutor, as the Eastern District of Virginia’s interim US Attorney just three days before she would present the case against Comey to a grand jury.
Halligan successfully secured two of the three charges the Justice Department sought against Comey and has also procured the help of two federal prosecutors from North Carolina to join the case: Nathaniel Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz.
Earlier this year, Comey was briefly investigated – and was even brought into the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office for questioning – after posting a picture of seashells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47.”
The number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out (in some cases through death or violent means), while 47 corresponds to Trump’s current term in office as the 47th president. The charges against Comey are unrelated to the social media post.
Challenges in the case ahead
While prosecutors secured the indictment against Comey, the road ahead could prove difficult as they will likely be forced to defend against Trump’s own fiery statements about Comey and how they could be used to argue the prosecution was born out of political and personal bias.
Trump’s own attorneys used that same argument in the federal cases brought against the then-former president by special counsel Jack Smith in 2023.
Halligan’s appointment, too, could be called into question by Comey’s defense team. As some in Republican legal circles have noted, an interim US Attorney in the Eastern District had already served the 120-day limit imposed on those not confirmed by the Senate, so her appointment may be invalid.
Speaking on Fox News Wednesday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche referred to Comey’s case as “equal application of the law.”
“Of course it is,” Blanche told FOX News’ Lawrence Jones on FOX and Friends.
“Mr. Comey will be arraigned today in Federal Court in Virginia like thousands of individuals who are charged with committing crimes, and he’s being treated exactly like every other individual in his position,” Blanche said.
Blanche, when pressed by Jones, didn’t rule out Comey facing more charges down the line.
“I can tell you this: We are not worried about the political blowback of any of us doing our jobs,” Blanche said, adding that this applies to crimes taking place “today or over the past four years.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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