Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal prosecutors have expressed concerns about a possible criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey as President Donald Trump pressures the Department of Justice to indict his longtime political nemesis.
The president has been demanding that his political enemies face criminal charges like he did after his first term, and he has made a leadership change atop the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia after prosecutors expressed doubts about the case against Comey,
Sources told CNN the attorney general shared those concerns.
"Bondi has concerns about the case, which focuses on whether Comey made false statements during congressional testimony involving the 2016 investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, according to a person familiar with her thinking, though she believes it would be possible to bring an indictment," CNN reported.
If the attorney general gives the go-ahead to newly installed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump personal attorney, she could begin presenting evidence to a grand jury right away.
"Halligan has been spotted at the Justice Department twice this week, where sources say she was part of conversations over whether to charge Comey," CNN reported. "Halligan has also had questions about the case, according to a source briefed on the discussions."
The congressional testimony at the heart of the case came Sept. 30, 2020, so the five-year statute of limitations for bringing perjury charges would expire next Tuesday, which seems to have pushed Trump to ramp up the pressure on prosecutors to bring a case against the FBI director he fired early in his first term, at the start of the Russia probe.
“I just want people to act, and we want to act fast,” Trump told reporters Saturday. “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty, or if they should be charged, they should be charged, and we have to do it now.”
