Comey moves to dismiss indictment, asserting testimony to Congress was ‘literally true’
Former FBI Director James Comey asked a court to dismiss charges against him for allegedly lying to Congress, noting that the statements highlighted in the government's indictment were "literally true."
In the indictment last month, the Department of Justice claimed Comey falsely told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that he never gave anyone permission to leak details about an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton.
A motion filed by Comey's attorneys on Thursday said that the Trump administration sought to punish their client "for seconds of testimony he gave in response to compound and ambiguous questioning."
"Specifically, after speaking for more than a minute, Senator Ted Cruz asked Mr. Comey to recall statements he had made three years earlier and to simultaneously address statements that Senator Cruz incorrectly claimed were made by Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," the filing noted.
According to the motion, Cruz's questions could not form the basis for an indictment under Section 1001(a)(2) of U.S. law because they were "fundamentally ambiguous."
"And, regardless, Mr. Comey’s answers to them were literally true," the motion added. "For the foregoing reasons, the indictment should be dismissed with prejudice."
In a previous motion, Comey said the “vindictive” case should be dismissed because of President Donald Trump's vendetta against him.
“President Trump posted a statement on social media that provides smoking-gun evidence that this prosecution would not have occurred but for the President’s animus toward Mr. Comey,” the filing explained.
Ex-GOP spokesperson rails that red states are suffering due to Trump’s cuts
Former Republican Tim Miller, who hosts a podcast for the conservative anti-Trump news outlet The Bulwark, discussed with MSNBC host and former Republican Nicolle Wallace that the GOP is stiffing its own voters with slashes to food stamp benefits.
"I know food stamps is like a 90s era right-wing racist smear, but SNAP, which is sort of the new EBT — this is food assistance. [It] knows no partisan affiliation. If anything, it disproportionately benefits households in Trump voting counties and districts," said Wallace. "And it feeds a whole lot of kids who don't have any responsibility for any of the political decisions that adults make."
Miller noted that the GOP's rhetoric has clearly shifted from the days of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Mitt Romney (R-UT).
"But the policies are harmful to them. And this ... the expiration of SNAP — or the fact that they're not going to continue funding SNAP during this shutdown, beginning this weekend, I think is the most acute example of this, where, you know, if the party had fully switched to being a multiracial, multiethnic, working class party like they pay lip service to, this would be an emergency right now," said Miller.
The situation would involve Republican lawmakers fearful "our own voters are literally going to go hungry beginning this weekend. You know, we need to serve to service them. And meanwhile, Donald Trump's in China or in Korea getting a, you know, Burger King happy meal crown from the head of South Korea. And Congress isn't even in session, right? Like they're not doing anything."
He called it a catastrophe and a tragedy if the problem isn't fixed in the coming days.
"But it's also a very stark demonstration of just how this kind of MAGA populism is a lot of lip service and not a lot of action," Miller continued. "And you're seeing it in real time also in the states where, you know, in Colorado, Jared Polis and some other states, governors, mostly Democratic governors, are working to try to patch this right now. And in some of the red states, it's not going to get patched."
