President Donald Trump’s private vendetta in opposition to James Comey didn’t lead to his indictment, the Justice Department stated in a court docket submitting Monday, urging a decide not to throw out the fees in opposition to the previous FBI director over Trump’s extraordinary social media post calling for his prosecution.
The declare arose as prosecutors attempt to undermine Comey’s key protection — that he’s being “singled out” for prosecution as a result of he has criticized Trump — and dive additional into battle between the Justice Department and Comey over whether or not the previous FBI director was prosecuted just because he is among the president’s longtime foes.
“The defendant spins a tale that requires leaps of logic and a big dose of cynicism, then he calls the President’s post a direct admission,” prosecutors wrote.
“None of the President’s social-media posts express a desire for the defendant to be penalized for exercising his First Amendment rights. Far from it,” they continued. “The President’s social-media posts are clear on why he thinks the defendant should be prosecuted: he thinks the defendant is ‘guilty as hell.’”
The crux of Comey’s argument is that Trump has made no secret of his vitriol for him through the president’s yearlong vendetta in opposition to the FBI for its investigation into Russia and his 2016 presidential marketing campaign. Trump has targeted his animosity on Comey, his attorneys argued, citing a unprecedented record of public statements wherein Trump referred to as him a liar and prompt he ought to be investigated and prosecuted.
But the “smoking-gun evidence,” protection attorneys stated, was Trump’s social media post days earlier than an indictment was handed up declaring Comey was “guilty as hell” and demanding of the Attorney General that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”