Comey Dergest: American prosecutors have a short window – and a difficult case to make

Federal prosecutors preparing to request an indictment against the former director of the FBI, James Comey, for having allegedly lied to the Congress only left the limitation period – one of the many obstacles the Ministry of Justice is confronted to continue his case against Comey.

The case against Comey, at least for the moment, focuses on the remarks he made during his testimony to the Senate intelligence committee in a hearing of September 30, 2020, focused on the origins of the so-called “Crossfire Hurricane” probe.

It could be difficult for two reasons. First, prosecutors have little time to assert their cause for perjury, which seems to be the basis of the investigation.

This accusation has a prescription period of five years – giving prosecutors until Tuesday to impanity a large federal jury, present their case and obtain an indictment of at least 12 jurors before the expiration of the deadline.

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Former FBI director James Comey testifies to the Capitol Hill Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

The second is that there could be an internal resistance of federal career prosecutors, who could refuse to present the case.

ABC News reported On Wednesday, a group of prosecutors gave the American lawyer Lindsey Halligan – a former defense lawyer of President Donald Trump who was installed last week as an acting chief of the Oriental District of Virginia – a “detailed memo” recommending that he refuse to bear perjury and obstruction against Comey.

They noted that a several -month survey on Comey’s remarks, launched earlier this year, did not establish a probable cause of a crime.

They would also have reminded Halligan that the directives of the Doj will generally prevent prosecutors from depositing accusations unless they can show that the individual is “more likely to be found guilty out of any reasonable doubt by a trial of impartial fact and that the conviction will be confirmed on appeal.”

Halligan, however, is free to replace their concerns – despite any internal decline, the decision could cause.

Beyond that, prosecutors must also establish a probable cause of charges of perjury.

Perjury is a “very difficult crime to prove for the doj,” said John Fishwick, the former American lawyer for the Western district of Virginia, in Fox News Digital.

It is largely because prosecutors must not only prove that the declaration was false, but also that the accused knew that he was false at the time, said Fishwick. “Due to the difficulty of evidence, he is not often prosecuted.”

The investigation into Comey, for the moment, focuses on his testimony before the senate judicial committee during a hearing of September 30, 2020, on the management by the FBI of the so-called “Crossfire Hurricane” probe, which examined the allegations of Trump-Russia.

This investigation found no coordination and has itself been examined twice by the Ministry of Justice.

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The American district court for the Virginia Oriental District in Alexandria. (Bonnie Cash / Getty Images)

During the hearing in 2020, Comey was questioned by Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., if he could remember a reference of September 2016 at the FBI on “the approval of a plan by Hillary Clinton” implying “(Trump) and Russian pirates who have American elections as a means of distracting the public from his use of a private messaging server”.

Comey’s response – “It doesn’t sound bells with me” – was pillal by the Republicans, including Graham, who called the “magnificent” answer.

Comey later said that it was because the FBI, at the time, had already examined the issue for months (an assertion later supported by the special council John Durham, which was exploited by the prosecutor general of the time, Bill Barr, to investigate the origins of the survey of the Hurricane of Crossfire).

The news of the investigation occurs a few days after Erik Siebert was forced to resign from his role as American prosecutor of the Oriental District of Virginia, which prompted Trump to install Halligan in her place.

Trump also took the social truth to urge the Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Comey. “Justice must be done,” he said.

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Former FBI director James Comey testifies to an audience of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the alleged interference of Russia in the 2016 US elections on June 8, 2017. (Jim Bourg / Reuters)

The imminent accusation act, which could occur on Thursday, is the last chapter of the dispute for years between Trump and Comey, which Trump dismissed in 2017, about five years after his 10 -year term.

Comey, for his part, accused Trump shortly after leaving the FBI of having demanded a “fidelity commitment” of him, which he said that he had refused.

He remained a critic of Trump franc and used part of his memories, “higher loyalty”, to target the former president.

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Trump continued to assault Comey and examine his mandate at the FBI.

Fox News reported earlier this year that the FBI had launched criminal investigations into Comey and former CIA director John Brennan for allegedly made false declarations in the Congress.