00:00Former FBI Director James Comey is going on offense, filing two separate motions to toss out
00:08the federal charges brought against him by President Trump's Justice Department. One argues
00:13the case is pure retaliation, a personal vendetta by the president. The other claims the prosecutors
00:19who filed it was never legally appointed. Comey's team calls the indictment an egregious abuse of
00:25power, saying Trump targeted him for his public criticism. As part of the filings, Comey's lawyer
00:31submitted a 60-page collection of public statements by Trump and Comey, a paper trail they say shows a
00:37clear pattern of retaliation, writing, quote, in response to Mr. Comey's protected speech,
00:42President Trump has resorted to personal attacks and calls to retaliate through punishment and
00:47imprisonment. The pattern of the president's statements and actions demonstrate a clear
00:52intent to subject Comey to official reprisal for his protected speech. Comey also argues that
00:59Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump lawyer named interim U.S. attorney, was defectively appointed,
01:05making the entire indictment invalid. She took over after her predecessor, Eric Siebert,
01:11was forced out under pressure to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. Comey's filings
01:16even cite Trump's own classified document case in Florida, where a judge dismissed charges over
01:22a similar appointment issue.
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