James Comey will seem in court docket for an arraignment Wednesday, after the Justice Division took the unprecedented step of criminally charging the previous FBI director and Trump foe in late September.
Comey was ordered to report back to court docket in Northern Virginia at 10 a.m., virtually two weeks after a grand jury in the identical federal courthouse indicted him on costs of mendacity to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation 5 years in the past.
Comey has stated he is harmless, saying in a video after he was indicted, “let’s have a trial.” His spouse, Patrice, and daughter, Maurene, a former federal prosecutor in New York, will probably be in attendance on the continuing. Maurene Comey was fired by the Justice Division in July and has since sued the Trump administration over her ouster.
What is going to occur at Comey’s arraignment?
Through the arraignment, U.S. District Choose Michael Nachmanoff will probably formally inform Comey of the costs he faces and provides him a chance to enter a plea.
The choose might additionally contemplate Comey’s phrases of pre-trial launch. Generally, defendants like Comey who’re instructed to self-surrender are launched on their very own recognizance, which means they are not required to publish bail, however they generally could be pressured to pay a “recognizance bond” if they do not present as much as court docket, stated Mitchell Epner, a companion on the New York legislation agency Kudman Trachten Aloe Posner.
And the choose might set both a trial date or a date to listen to motions. There may be some hypothesis that Comey will file a movement to have the costs dismissed, both by alleging he’s a sufferer of vindictive prosecution or by arguing the U.S. legal professional who introduced the costs, Lindsey Halligan, was appointed invalidly. However it’s not clear what his lawyer, former U.S. Lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald, will do.
“Patrick Fitzgerald is a hell of a lawyer, and I’d not need to pre-guess what technique he’ll comply with right here,” stated Epner.
The arraignment will happen in open court docket, however cameras aren’t allowed.
Sometimes, defendants are additionally booked on the identical day that they give up for his or her arraignment, which might contain authorities taking pictures and fingerprints and checking for excellent warrants, in accordance with Epner.
Though Comey’s lawyer was issued a summons, FBI management thought of finishing up a “showy” arrest and “perp stroll” earlier than his arraignment, a number of sources conversant in the matter instructed CBS Information final week. Some FBI supervisors pushed again on the plan, and one was suspended, a supply stated.
Epner stated: “I am unable to think about a Justice of the Peace signing an arrest warrant at this level.”
The place is Comey’s arraignment happening?
Comey will probably be arraigned at a courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, which is a part of the Japanese District of Virginia. The case is probably going being heard there as a result of the costs are primarily based on a 2020 Senate listening to that Comey attended remotely from his Virginia residence.
If the case goes to trial, Comey will face a jury pool made up of residents of the Washington, D.C., suburbs — an space that typically disfavors President Trump.
Some 62.6% of voters within the jap district’s Alexandria division voted for Democrat Kamala Harris final yr, and 34.1% voted for Mr. Trump. The division consists of Alexandria and a number of other different cities and counties in northern Virginia.
Who’s the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan?
The case towards Comey is being overseen by Halligan, the performing U.S. Lawyer for the Japanese District of Virginia who was sworn into the function simply days earlier than Comey was indicted.
A former Florida insurance coverage lawyer, Halligan beforehand labored as a private legal professional to Mr. Trump, and was a part of his protection workforce in a federal case accusing him of mishandling categorised paperwork. Extra just lately, Halligan labored as a White Home aide.
She took over the workplace after the resignation of former performing U.S. Lawyer Erik Siebert.
In an uncommon transfer, Halligan has dealt with components of the prosecution herself to date. She personally signed Comey’s indictment and appeared in court docket when the grand jury returned the indictment.
Two assistant U.S. attorneys from the Japanese District of North Carolina have been additionally added to the case Tuesday: Gabriel Diaz and Nathaniel Lemons.
Who’s Comey’s legal professional, Patrick Fitzgerald?
Comey is being represented by Fitzgerald, a widely known legal professional who retired as a companion on the legislation agency Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 2023.
Fitzgerald was named particular counsel in George W. Bush’s administration, to research a 2003 leak that exposed the id of CIA officer Valerie Plame. He additionally served as U.S. legal professional in Chicago for greater than a decade, overseeing the prosecution of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Who’s Choose Nachmanoff?
Nachmanoff was assigned to supervise Comey’s case. He was nominated to the federal bench by former President Joe Biden in 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in a 52-46 vote. Three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting sure: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Nachmanoff beforehand labored within the district as a public defender and Justice of the Peace choose. Whereas within the latter function, he oversaw the 2019 arraignment of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two gamers in Mr. Trump’s first impeachment who have been charged with marketing campaign finance violations.
Mr. Trump has attacked Nachmanoff, writing on Reality Social that Comey “was simply assigned a Crooked Joe Biden appointed Choose, so he is off to an excellent begin.”
What’s Comey charged with?
The primary rely accuses him of making a false assertion in a September 2020 Senate listening to.
Prosecutors allege Comey falsely asserted he had by no means approved an FBI staffer to function an nameless supply in information reviews concerning the bureau’s 2016 investigations into Hillary Clinton. In a testy back-and-forth 5 years in the past, Comey instructed Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that he stood by testimony he gave in 2017 by which he stated he did not approve any nameless sources.
The indictment doesn’t clarify the substance of the alleged leak or specify which FBI staffer Comey is accused of giving permission to leak.
Cruz’s questions centered on an incident by which Comey and his onetime deputy, Andrew McCabe, gave inconsistent tales a couple of 2016 Wall Avenue Journal article on one of many FBI’s Clinton probes. McCabe stated he instructed Comey after the story got here out that McCabe had approved staffers to speak to the Journal, however Comey says McCabe instructed him no such factor. The Justice Division’s inner watchdog sided with Comey and located McCabe lacked candor.
In a CNN interview, McCabe stated he hasn’t been approached by the FBI in reference to the Comey probe and doubted the indictment was about him, noting that he did not ask Comey for permission to launch data to the media as a result of he did not want permission.
Comey has additionally been probed by the Justice Division’s watchdog for releasing memos on his interactions with Mr. Trump to his good friend, Daniel Richman, who shared their contents to the New York Instances. The watchdog discovered Comey violated FBI insurance policies however did not leak categorised materials.
The second rely towards Comey accuses him of obstructing a congressional continuing by “making false and deceptive statements” in the identical 2020 listening to.
And in a uncommon transfer, the grand jury declined to indict him on a further rely of mendacity to Congress within the 2020 listening to, referring to testimony Comey gave lawmakers that he did not bear in mind getting a tip from the intelligence neighborhood referring to Hillary Clinton and Mr. Trump.
Many critics consider the Comey indictment is the results of Mr. Trump’s dedication to punish a longtime political foe. The president fired Comey in 2017, and the 2 have traded barbs since then. Mr. Trump publicly urged Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi to look into Comey earlier than he was charged, and the president celebrated the indictment shortly after it was handed down.
Earlier than Comey was charged, some workers within the Workplace of the U.S. Lawyer within the Japanese District of Virginia circulated a memo arguing costs shouldn’t be introduced, a Justice Division supply conversant in the matter instructed CBS Information.
The Justice Division has defended its dealing with of the case. After Comey was indicted, Bondi stated in a assertion the transfer “displays this Division of Justice’s dedication to holding those that abuse positions of energy accountable for deceptive the American individuals.”
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Daniel Klaidman and
contributed to this report.
