Trump pressed to prosecute Comey, but his own actions could undermine the case

Shortly after the American government charged the former director of the FBI, James Comey, of having made a false statement to the Congress and having obstructed one of his investigations, President Donald Trump praised the indictment of his long -standing political enemy and published on the social networks that Comey had declared to a “large -scale lie”.

Trump and Comey have been locked in a public resentment match for almost a decade, and the president often said that Comey belonged to the prison. Comey, who compared Trump to a boss of the crowd and criticized him frequently, denies the accusations.

But Trump’s comments on the indictment, and his public pressure on the Ministry of Justice to assure him, may have created a weakness in the case and made prosecutors to win a conviction, according to the former federal prosecutors.

They warn that Trump’s public attacks on Comey and unusual circumstances leading to the indictment could make doubt about the integrity of the process.

“It looks like a Slapdash rush at the courthouse thinking about a single objective: to achieve the president’s objectives to charge a political enemy perceived with a crime,” said Kevin Flynn, who was a federal prosecutor in Washington, DC, for three decades.

The indictment against Comey makes only two pages and has little information, which makes it difficult to assess the force of accusations or underlying evidence.

Although certain accusation acts can be short, its brevity was “beyond the unusual” for a political affair also in sight, said Marcos Jiménez, who was a American lawyer for the southern district of Florida under republican president George W Bush.

To condemn Comey, the government must prove, out of any reasonable doubt, that he knowingly lied to the congress, said Flynn. This would need to show definitive evidence of the jury that Comey knew that Congress was in mistake, such as witness declarations, documentation and other forms of evidence.

“The best perjury cases involve a corroboration,” said Flynn.

Federal prosecutors asked a large jury to indicate Comey on Thursday for three accusations. The jury decided that there was only enough evidence to invoice it two charges, according to the judicial archives.

The procedures of the major juries, which decide only if a case against a person could succeed in court, are secret and sealed, which means that only a small group of people knows what evidence was taken into account of Comey.

Mr. Jiminez warned that the bar according to which the evidence should empty for a large jury are weaker than during a trial where a conviction is at stake.

“The standard respected at the level of the Grand Jury is: has it probably happened?” “Said Mr. Jiménez.

While invoicing a figure as high -end as Comey was unusual, Annemarie McAvoy, professor at Columbia Law School, told BBC Sumi Somaskanda that there was a story to indicate civil servants for lies in the legislators and hinders the investigations of the Congress. She added that it was possible, although it could be difficult, to win a conviction.

Comey was accused of lying when he was questioned during a congress hearing in 2020 if he authorized the leak in the press information related to an FBI investigation.

“If there are others who are ready to manifest and say:” Yes, I got the information from James Comey “, then potentially they certainly have a case,” said McAvoy.

Questionable circumstances surround the indictment

During last week, Trump used his Truth social platform to openly call Comey’s prosecution and other characters who opposed him.

When the American lawyer in Virginia refused to carry out the prosecution and resigned, Trump installed a prosecutor on his own orbit in the office, Lindsey Halligan, who then asked for the indictment.

Several legal experts have told the BBC that Trump’s actions could provide an opening to Comey to move to reject the case for selective or vindictive proceedings.

After the indictment of Comey, Trump posted on Truth Social Calling Comey a “Dirty Cop” and by writing that a “Grand Prix must be paid” for the false alleged statements of the former FBI director.

Before, on September 20, Trump had complained in a long post that “nothing is done” to bring legal action against some of his political opponents, including Comey. They were “guilty like hell,” he said.

“Publications and declarations of the president’s social media are a major problem for the accusation, both legally and practically,” said Jeffrey Bellin, professor at the Vanderbilt University Law School.

“From the outside, it seems that this prosecution was brought to the direct request of the president, on the objections of professional prosecutors against a political opponent. And all of this has happened in the sight of the public.”

Trump, however, denies any political motive.

“This is justice, no revenge,” he told journalists from the White House on Friday. “This is justice.”