Comey seeks to have indictment tossed, arguing senator’s questions were “confusing,” “ambiguous”
Washington — Former FBI Director James Comey is urging a federal court to dismiss the two federal charges brought against him over allegedly false testimony he gave to Congress in September 2020. He’s arguing that the questions he answered, which were asked by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, were “confusing” and “fundamentally ambiguous.”
In a new filing with the court in Alexandria, Virginia, Comey’s lawyers argued that his testimony in response to Cruz’s questions was “literally true” and cannot support a conviction. The former FBI director’s legal team suggested that the government is attempting to try Comey on “cherry-picked statements” given during a four-hour long Senate hearing without specifying which parts of his testimony it believes were false or misleading.
They argued that while the government has the authority to prosecute witnesses who mislead federal investigators by giving false answers to clear questions, “it does not authorize the government to create confusion by posing an imprecise question and then seek to exploit that confusion by placing an after-the-fact nefarious interpretation on the ensuing benign answer.”
Comey’s lawyers also asserted that “basic due process principles in criminal law require that the questioner frame his questions with clarity so that a witness does not have to guess.”
A federal grand jury in Alexandria indicted Comey late last month on charges he lied to Congress and obstructed a congressional investigation. The alleged offenses stem from testimony Comey gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Comey has already filed with the court one tranche of motions with the court that argue the indictment should be tossed out on the grounds that it is based on a vindictive and selective prosecution. He is also challenging the validity of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan‘s appointment to that role.
Comey’s lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in one of those filings that he would seek to dismiss at least the first count of the indictment — the allegation that Comey lied to Congress — because of Cruz’s questioning.
The indictment against Comey references an exchange the former FBI director had with an unnamed senator, believed to be Cruz, during the Judiciary Committee hearing more than five years ago. During the questioning, Cruz asks Comey about testimony he gave in May 2017, in which the former FBI chief was questioned as to whether he had ever been an anonymous source or authorized anyone to be an anonymous source about matters relating to investigations into President Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.
Cruz then referenced comments from Andrew McCabe, who was Comey’s deputy at the FBI, and claimed McCabe publicly said that Comey authorized him to leak information to the press.
“Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true; one or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?” Cruz asked Comey.
Comey said in response, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by what, the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”
Cruz reiterated that Comey was testifying that he “never authorized to leak. And Mr. McCabe when if he says contrary is not telling the truth, is that correct?”
“Again, I’m not going to characterize Andy’s testimony, but mine is the same today,” Comey replied.
