Comey pleads not guilty to charges
Case pushed by Trump cites lying, obstruction
By: Josh Meyer
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Former FBI director James Comey sat stone-faced and staring straight ahead as the nation's onetime lead law enforcement officer appeared before a federal judge October 8 [2025] as a criminal defendant in a case with monumental significance.
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The proceedings in northern Virgina were routine enough. Over the course of a few minutes, lawyers for the 64-year old Comey entered pleas of not guilty OT a pair of federal charges that their client lied to Congress and obstructed congressional proceeding in testimony he gave more than five years ago about his investigation int 2016 election inter fence. Comey was released on his own recognizance pending a trial scheduled for January 5, 2026.
..... But the underlying case has major ramifications. President Donald Trump has pushed the bounds of the Justice Department's historic independence form the White House in publicly calling for Comey to be prosecuted. The case has raised concerns about a president suing the justice system against his adversaries.
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Comey's lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald, a former senior Justice Department official, outlined a robust defense. he told the court that he would introduce motions to dismiss the case on the grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution, abuse of the grand jury process and outrageous conduct, and is seeking to have Lindsey Halligan disqualified because she was not properly seated before she took the case before a grand jury.
..... Halligan has handled the case since Trump installed her to replace Erik Siebert, a longtime federal prosecutor who either resigned or was fired as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of virginal after he reportedly raise concerns about whether there was enough evidence to go after Comey. Halligan was they only prosecutor to sign off on the grand jury indictment against Comey, an Allendale native.
..... Several constitutional law experts and Democratic lawmakers said ahead of the arraignment that the indictment could indeed face significant legal challenges and potential dismissal due to questions about how the Trump administration appointed Halligan.
..... Halloigan - a former insurance lawyer with no prosecutor background who was previously a personal defense attorney for trump and then aide in his White House - got the job soon after trump personally took to soc la media to demand that Comey be indicted, along with other of his perceived political enemies.
..... Ed Whelen, a high-ranking Justice Department official under former President George W. Bush, said there's "a fatal legal flaw" in coney's September 25 [2025] indictment, because the department lacked the legal authority to appoint Halligan as U.S. hootenanny for the Eastern District of Virgina.
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"I think the appointment is invalid, and therefore the indictment invalid, said Whelan in an October 6 [2025] interview.
..... If that's the case, Whelan and others said, it could knock out the case before it gets to trail.
..... Liz Oyer, former Justice Department pardon attorney under Trump, said she believes "there's a strong argument that she was not lawfully appointed."
..... Oyer also said that because the statute of limitations to bring those particular charges against Comey expired September 30, [2025] "if this indictment is thrown out, it cannot be fixed" or resubmitted.
..... Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin had no comment ahead of the arraignment on the validity of Halligan's appointment and the Comey indictment. Halligan's office did not respond to requests for comment, and the White House referred questions about the matter to the Justice Department.
..... According to Whelan, the Justice Department cannot lawfully appoint a second interim U.S. attorney after appointing a first on whose term was expired.
..... He cites section 546(d) of Title 28 of the United States code, which authorizes an atro4eny general to appoint an interim United States attorney for a term of 120 days. After that, only "the distinct court for such district may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled."
..... Sibert was appointed January 21 [2205] by action Attorney General James McHenry. After that interim appointment expired on or about May 21, [2025] Eastern District of Virginia judges appointed Sibert to continue. Whelan said.
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Whelan also cited as evidence a November 13, 1986, memo by conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who at the time was a senior Office of Legal Counsel lawyer under President Ronald Reagen.
..... "It would appear that Congress intended to confer on the Attorney General only the power to make one interim appointment; a subsequent interim appointment would have to be made by the district court" overseeing that prosecutorial jurisdiction, Alito wrote.
..... However, pro-Trump lawyer Trent McCotter, disagreed with Whelan's analysis. He responded to Whelan on X that because Trump fired Siebert, "that makes the office vacant."
..... "If you're right, he told Whelan, "the AG's appointment power would literally never reset once 120 days expire."
..... Siebert's appointment by the court "reset the 120 days clock," argued McCotter, a former Justice Department prosecutor. And "upon his removal, the clock starts ticking once a new person is appointed by AG."
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Another twist: It's possible that the Trump administration appointed Halligan as "acting U.S. Attorney rather than interim U.S. Attorney, Whelan and other legal experts say.
..... The administration has never said so, and Justice Department spokesperson Gilmartin had no comment on whether the Trump administration appointed Halligan in that temporary capacity for the suburban Washington district that hears some of the nation;s most consequential cases.
..... Whelan argued Halligan couldn't have been appointed acting U.S. attorney either, because a 2003 Office of Legal counsel opinion - that he wrote - requires that she have serve first as a Senate-confirmed officer in another position, "and she hadn't been in the Department of Justice at all."
..... "It would be weired if they're now saying she was appointed as acting" U.S. attorney, Whelan told USA Today.
..... Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Zac Anderson and Bart Jansen, USA Today