Watchdog group seeks probe of Comey, Letitia James cases

Former federal ethics officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations are asking the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate the prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In a letter obtained by CBS News, ethics officials who worked in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations urged a formal review of interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan’s decision to prosecute Comey and James.    

They sent their request Tuesday to Acting Justice Department Inspector General William Blier, writing, “Ms. Halligan pursued these indictments to fulfill President Donald J. Trump’s longstanding personal vendetta against Mr. Comey and Ms. James, we are facing a turning point in our democracy and some of the most egregious examples of vindictive and meritless prosecution that our nation has ever seen.”

The letter was written by leaders of the Democracy Defenders Fund, a Washington-based nonpartisan group that has frequently been critical of the Trump administration.

The group is led by Norm Eisen, former ethics official for President Barack Obama; Richard Painter, a former associate counsel to President George W. Bush; and Virginia Canter, a former White House associate counsel to Presidents Bill Clinton and Obama.

Their letter also said, “A president should never order prosecutions of his enemies. That happens in Putin’s Russia, and it has happened in other dictatorships, but not here–until now.” 

Comey and Mr. Trump have had a contentious relationship for years. Comey, who was FBI director when Mr. Trump took office in 2017, was fired later that year by the president. Initially, the White House indicated he had been ousted over his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server, but the president later told NBC News’ Lester Holt that he had the FBI’s Russia investigation on his mind and had terminated Comey because of “this Russia thing with Trump and Russia.” 

That firing ultimately set into motion special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denounced those allegations as a “hoax.” Mueller’s probe found that Russia interfered in the election and several Trump campaign officials had contacts with Russians, but did not establish that campaign staff illegally conspired with the Russian government.

For his part, Comey has been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump since his firing, calling him “morally unfit” to be president in a 2018 interview.

The Democracy Defenders Fund also contended that “prosecutors should never be fired for refusing to bring charges they conclude are unfounded, even if the president orders them to do so. Yet that appears to be just what President Trump has done in order to charge Mr. Comey and Ms. James.”

The criminal cases were filed against Comey and James less than three weeks after President Trump called for their prosecution in a post on social media. 

The acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who had been appointed to the position by Mr. Trump, resigned after he did not bring prosecutions of Comey and James, and the president announced he had been fired. A Trump White House aide, Lindsey Halligan, was then installed as acting U.S. attorney and within days secured grand jury indictments against Comey and James — with prosecutors charging Comey less than a week before the statute of limitations ran out.  

Halligan has defended both of the prosecutions. In the hours after James’s indictment last week, Halligan said in a statement, “No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.”  

After charging Comey, Halligan said, “The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level,”

Comey is charged with making a false statement and obstruction of Congress, for allegedly lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020 when he denied that he had authorized someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports. Comey has denied any wrongdoing. 

During an arraignment proceeding last week, Comey’s defense attorney told a judge that Comey would seek a dismissal of the case next week, arguing the case is an unlawful vindictive prosecution against one of the president’s critics.

The Democracy Defenders Fund’s request for a federal review of Halligan’s cases also argued, “The same pattern has now been repeated a second time in as many weeks with respect to another victim of President Trump’s wrath. Ms. Halligan’s prosecution of Letitia James on two counts of ‘bank fraud’ and a ‘false statement’ appears to be a further attempt to fulfill President Trump’s personal vendetta against his political enemies.”

“Trump’s animus against Ms. James stems from having successfully brought a years-long civil fraud case against the Trump Organization, which included judgments against President Trump and two of his sons and imposed a court monitor with limits on their ability to conduct business in New York,” the fund’s letter continued.

James is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 24, to answer to charges of mortgage fraud and false statement in connection with a Norfolk, Virginia, home in 2020. James has also denied wrongdoing.

The Office of the Justice Department Inspector General is on furlough because of the shutdown and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.