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In his first question of the day, Judge Nachmanoff asked #JamesComey atty Michael Dreeben if he was arguing the case was brought to punish Comey for using his #FreeSpeech rights or that #Trump was targeting Comey because of his personal animosity toward against him.
Dreeben told the judge it is both.
“The President’s hate or animosity or dislike of Mr. Comey” may be enough to initially fire Comey, Dreeben said, but not use the “full weight” of the criminal justice system against Comey.”
Fmr FBI Director #JamesComey is in court as a hearing on whether the indictment against him should be tossed kicked off.
Comey’s attorney, Michael Dreeban, is arguing first.
“The president of the United States has caused the executive branch to prosecute a perceived enemy,” Dreeban began his arguments Wednesday.
Dreeban argued #Trump has gone after the fmr director to “punish Mr. Comey for speaking out against him.”
Dreeben, attorney for #JamesComey, urged the judge to dismiss the charges against his client on the argument that he's the victim of a "selective & vindictive" prosecution.
“This is an extraordinary case, & it merits an extraordinary remedy,” Dreeben, told U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff
Dreeben pointed to multiple statements from #Trump demanding that Comey be prosecuted.
He asked the judge to dismiss the case "with prejudice," meaning the charges could not be refiled.
In his first question of the day, Judge Nachmanoff asked #JamesComey atty Michael Dreeben if he was arguing the case was brought to punish Comey for using his #FreeSpeech rights or that #Trump was targeting Comey because of his personal animosity toward against him.
Dreeben told the judge it is both.
“The President’s hate or animosity or dislike of Mr. Comey” may be enough to initially fire Comey, Dreeben said, but not use the “full weight” of the criminal justice system against Comey.”
#JamesComey’s attorney argued Wednesday that #Trump’s Sept social media post pushing the #DOJ to prosecute is a “crystal clear” example of why his client is being charged only because of the president’s personal animosity.
The post, Dreeben, said, linked Comey to 2 other “enemies” of Trump, & portrayed his frustration that interim #USAttorney #LindseyHalligan’s predecessor was resisting bringing charges. Dreeben was referring to Sen #AdamSchiff & NYAG #LetitiaJames.
“The President is underscoring what he wants here, [Erik] Siebert was not doing his job here.” The job of Siebert, who #Trump replaced with #LindseyHalligan, was to “prosecute,” Dreeben said.
“If that’s not a direction to prosecute, I’m not really sure what is,” Dreeben said.
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