How the Trump DOJ can lose the new Comey case before it even starts

Federal prosecutors in Washington, D. C. , have filed a third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, and MS NOW reports it may collapse over a filing-deadline problem. The charges accuse Comey of unlawfully sharing sensitive government information with a journalist, based on conduct from 2016, and carry a 10-year limitations period. The Justice Department appears to have filed just inside that window, but it used an information, which needs no grand jury, rather than an indictment. The governing law refers only to an indictment.

Comey's lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss the case as time barred, noting that Congress names both instruments elsewhere. The Justice Department answers that the motion is premature and that the longer limitations law merely extends the time allowed, without dictating the form of the charges. If Comey prevails, the case ends before it begins. Even if prosecutors win, they still need a grand jury to indict, and the department has struggled to win such approvals in politically charged Washington cases. Comey is also expected to claim vindictive prosecution.

His Virginia case was thrown out last year because the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed; the department has appealed.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →