There are two motions. The first motion deals with vindictive prosecution. A separate motion addresses the appointment of Halligan as special counsel. That motion will be heard by a different judge.
Comey seeks to have indictment tossed for vindictive prosecution, questions about prosecutor's appointment www.cbsnews.com/news/james-c...
— Lise Latulippe (@liselatulippe.bsky.social) 2025-10-20T20:03:21.107Z
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-comey-seeks-indictment-tossed-vindictive-prosecution-fbi-trump/
Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey filed a slate of motions Monday, seeking to have the two-count federal indictment against him dismissed before a potential trial date early next year.
Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that it is based on a vindictive and unlawful prosecution. He is also challenging the appointment of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan to that role.
Comey's attorneys wrote that the charges arose due to an "egregious abuse of power," and there are "multiple glaring constitutional violations" in the indictment. They argued that Mr. Trump ordered prosecutors to charge Comey due to "personal spite" and because Comey had "frequently criticized the President," who fired Comey from his role leading the FBI in 2017 and has sparred with Comey for years......
In a separate motion, attorneys for Comey also argued that Halligan, the only attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to sign his indictment, "was defectively appointed to her office as an interim U.S. Attorney."
Arguing that "no properly appointed" official from the executive branch had obtained the indictment against Comey, his lawyers said "the indictment is equally a nullity" and should be dismissed.
"The President and Attorney General appointed the President's personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire," Comey's lawyers wrote.
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