James Comey’s lawyers seek to block Trump DOJ prosecution - The News International

Former FBI Director James Comey’s lawyers will ask a federal judge on Friday to block the Department of Justice from pursuing its third criminal case against Comey, who is the blunt critic of President Donald Trump.

Bypassing a grand jury, the DOJ filed a charging document called a “criminal information” to extend the 10-year statute of limitations for an indictment.

In Comey’s defense, the attorney argued that filing an information without a grand jury approval or waiver from Comey is legally invalid and fails to stop the statute of limitations from expiring.

Arguments were set to be heard on Friday before US District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee.

Speaking about the nature of allegations, the charges stem from an October 2016 New York Times article disclosing a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) order that required Yahoo to scan emails for foreign terrorist organizations.

In December 2018, prosecutor John Durham investigated the disclosure and recommended no criminal charges. In 2019, a second investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for D.C. was closed in early 2020 without filing charges.

In the first case, Comey was accused of lying to Congress in 2020. Later it was dismissed by a judge due to the illegal appointment of the prosecutor.

In the second case, there is a pending indictment alleging that Comey threatened Donald Trump via an Instagram photo of seashells arranged as "86 47" which is slang to get rid of the 47th president.

However, Comey maintains his innocence, calling the proceedings an "appalling abuse" of the DOJ in the run-up to midterm elections.