Former FBI Director James Comey is asking a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against him, claiming the prosecution is vindictive and unlawful.

Washington

Former FBI Director James Comey has asked a judge to dismiss criminal charges against him, filing two motions in court. In the first, Comey argues the prosecution is vindictive and selective, claiming it was motivated by former President Trump's public calls for his prosecution and longstanding criticism. The second motion challenges the appointment of the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, alleging she was not lawfully appointed due to exceeding the time limit for acting U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Department of Justice is expected to respond to Comey's motions and is also seeking to disqualify Comey's defense lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, citing his alleged connection to events in 2017 involving the release of classified information. Both sides are preparing for an extended legal battle as the case proceeds.

Ex-FBI director James Comey seeks to toss indictment

We begin with former FBI Director James Comey asking a judge to dismiss criminal charges against him. CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott McFarland joins us now. Scott, what more can you tell us about today's request from Comey? Two voluminous filings from James Comey, the former FBI director. In the first, he argues that his case should be dismissed because, in his words, it's a vindictive, selective prosecution. The second motion argues that the prosecutor who brought the case was unlawfully appointed to the position, also seeking the case dismissed on those grounds. Let's look at the first filing about the vindictive prosecution. A lot inside of that filing. What he's arguing here is that President Trump called for this prosecution because Comey is a vocal critic of his and that there's an animus behind it. Among the things Comey argues is that there was, this September 2025, last month, a social media post from President Trump in which he name-checks the U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and says James Comey should be prosecuted and that he should be prosecuted now. What's more, the argument unpacks all of these prior criticisms Trump has had of James Comey and the name-calling the president has invoked about James Comey. He makes this argument that the indictment should be dismissed because it's vindictive. In that second filing, which is about 30 pages, Comey makes an extended argument saying the prosecutor, whose image you showed, Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed as an acting U.S. attorney because some type of time frame under which acting U.S. attorneys can operate has been breached, a 120-day limit on the use of an acting U.S. attorney in an Eastern District of Virginia office. These are the two arguments made by James Comey. Both were predicted by his defense counsel at the time of his arraignment. They were filed today on schedule with the judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Lindsey. What's next in this case? Well, there will be a response from the Department of Justice to those motions. The Department of Justice, meanwhile, Lindsey, would like to see James Comey's defense lawyer disqualified, saying this goes on a while, but saying that the Comey defense lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, the one-time top federal prosecutor in Chicago, had some connection to what Comey did in 2017, what the Department of Justice argues is an inappropriate release of classified or confidential information back then. Comey denies that in a filing. There's going to be a lot of back and forth. Get comfortable in your chairs. This is going to be a bunch of haymakers thrown each way in legal filings over the next few days, weeks, and months. Okay. Scott McFarlane will do. I know you'll do the same. Thank you.

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