Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James battled the Justice Department in court Thursday over whether President Donald Trump lawfully appointed a prosecutor to go after his political enemies.
The two cases suffer from “a fundamental defect,” Comey’s attorney, Ephraim McDowell began the hearing, arguing that interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia brought his client’s case before a grand jury alone despite having “no authority to do so.”
Halligan, then a White House adviser, was appointed after the previous interim US Attorney for the district was pressured to pursue indictments against the two, who Trump repeatedly has attacked and demanded be charged.
One lawyer for the Justice Department, Henry Whitaker, argued Thursday that Comey and James were trying to “elevate what is at best a paperwork error.”
Comey is charged with making a false statement to Congress and James with bank fraud. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
