ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- James Comey pleaded innocent Wednesday in a criminal case that has highlighted the Justice Department's efforts to target adversaries of President Donald Trump, with lawyers for the former FBI director saying they plan to argue the prosecution is politically motivated and should be dismissed.
Comey's innocent plea to accusations that he lied to Congress five years ago kick-starts a process of legal wrangling that could culminate in a trial months from now at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va., just outside of Washington. Defense lawyers said they intend to ask that the case be thrown out before trial on grounds that it constitutes a vindictive prosecution and also plan to challenge the legitimacy of the appointment of the prosecutor who filed the charges just days after Trump hastily appointed her to her position.
"It's the honor of my life to represent Mr. Comey in this matter," one of Comey's lawyers, Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime friend who served with him in President George W. Bush's Justice Department, said in court on Wednesday.
Fitzgerald also expressed exasperation in the hearing, saying that his "first substantive contact" with prosecutors came Tuesday night. He said he still had not received specific details of the charges, including the identities of witnesses, beyond the two-page indictment approved by a split grand jury on Sept. 25.
The indictment came after the resignation of the prosecutor who had been overseeing the Comey...
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