Comey pleads not guilty in case his lawyers say is politically motivated

Amna Nawaz:

Former FBI Director James Comey has pled not guilty after federal prosecutors charged him with lying to Congress five years ago. The charges were brought against Comey by President Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, his former personal attorney. Halligan's predecessor was ousted for refusing to charge Comey.

NPR's Carrie Johnson was at the courthouse for Comey's arraignment, and she joins us now.

Carrie, it's good to see you.

Carrie Johnson, Justice Correspondent, NPR:

You too.

Amna Nawaz:

So just tell us about what happened in the courtroom today and also what it felt like in the room.

Carrie Johnson:

This was a really solemn moment. Jim Comey, the former FBI director, former deputy attorney general, was actually in the courtroom in a courthouse where he once used to work as a criminal defendant.

His family was there, his wife, his daughter Maurene, who was fired this year by the Justice Department and who is suing to get her job back, his son-in-law who quit his job in the same prosecutor's office after Comey was indicted. And Comey basically pleaded not guilty in court and signaled that he wants to go to trial.

Amna Nawaz:

And just as a reminder here, we know he's facing two criminal charges. What are they and what's he facing if convicted?

Carrie Johnson:

Two charges. The first is false statements to Congress in connection with testimony he gave to the Senate five years ago. The second is obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The max for both of those charges is five years in prison, very serious, although Comey, of course, has no criminal record, so wouldn't face quite that much time.

Amna Nawaz:

And I know, as you have been reporting, as we have, the actual indictment against Jim Comey was signed only by Lindsey Halligan, which is highly unusual. We also know that several career prosecutors declined to sign on to it. They're now refusing to join the team that's prosecuting this case.

What can you tell us about how the prosecution is going to move forward here?

Carrie Johnson:

This is a highly unusual situation. Lindsey Halligan has no prosecutorial experience. She appeared in court today. But she seems to have recruited two federal prosecutors from North Carolina to try this case.

One has some national security experience, used to be a military lawyer. The other is a bit younger and seems to have prosecuted only drug cases in the past. So it's going to be a very interesting ride to see how they handle a case of this magnitude.

Amna Nawaz:

We have also seen from Jim Comey's defense attorney here this claim that the prosecution was brought by President Trump. They have also said they plan to file an outrageous government conduct motion, among others, to try to get the case dismissed.

Tell us a little bit about their defense strategy here.

Carrie Johnson:

Sure, the defense lawyer himself is remarkable. It's Patrick Fitzgerald. He used to be the U.S. attorney in Chicago. He's also a longtime friend of Jim Comey who came out of retirement to defend Comey in this case. He said in court today it's the honor of his life to do this case for his friend.

Fitzgerald signaled that he's going to basically make Donald Trump a main character in this defense to argue that Comey was selectively and vindictively prosecuted at Trump's direction, using some of the president's social media comments as part of the defense. He also seems to signal that he's going to challenge whether Lindsey Halligan, this U.S. attorney, was actually lawfully appointed.

If a court agrees that she was not lawfully appointed, this indictment would go away before any trial would happen.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned the president's public social media posts there. We know he's publicly called for Comey to be prosecuted. He's also called for charges among a host of other people, among them, Senator Adam Schiff, the New York attorney general, Letitia James.

Just this morning, he called for the arrests of the Chicago mayor and the Illinois governor for — quote — "failing to protect ICE officers."

Could all of these public calls for political retribution factor into this case?

Carrie Johnson:

Normally, it's really hard to win a motion to dismiss based on selective or vindictive prosecution, but Donald Trump keeps stirring the pot.

And that may help many of these defendants eventually if they are charged, as Comey has been. The other issue that longtime prosecutors have said to me is that they're concerned that this will result in a loss of credibility among jurors and judges, because the Justice Department will be seen to be political in doing the president's bidding. And that's a long-term consequence.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Carrie, what happens next? What's the timeline ahead?

Carrie Johnson:

The judge has set a trial date for January 5. In the months to come, we're going to see a lot of motions back-and-forth, more court appearances by Jim Comey himself, and potentially charges against other people who are on Trump's so-called enemies list.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, NPR's Carrie Johnson joining us again tonight.

Carrie, always great to have you here. Thank you.

Carrie Johnson:

Thank you.