Comey\u2019s lawyers believe the Trump administration has singled out their client because of his protected speech and what they call Trump\u2019s \u201cpersonal animus\u201d toward Comey. Trump fired Comey<\/a> as FBI director in 2017 after the two clashed over the Justice Department’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Comey had been an outspoken critic of Trump since then. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Constitution forbids the government from prosecuting an individual based on his protected speech or based on a government official\u2019s animus toward the individual,\u201d attorneys for Comey wrote in filings. \u201cObjective evidence establishes that President Trump directed the prosecution of Mr. Comey in retaliation for Mr. Comey\u2019s public criticisms and to punish Mr. Comey because of personal spite.\u201d<\/p>\n Comey\u2019s team has provided the court with pages of examples of Trump\u2019s disparaging posts and comments about the former FBI director. The posts are likely to play a role in Wednesday’s hearing, especially Trump’s message to Bondi. Legal experts told NBC News in September that Trump’s post could backfire.<\/p>\n Comey’s lawyers want U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought for a second time. These types of motions rarely succeed in court, but legal experts say if there was ever a situation where it would succeed, this case may be the one.<\/p>\n Patrick J. Cotter, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at UB Greensfelder, told NBC News the evidence supporting Comey’s effort is incredibly strong, despite the high bar for such motions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is that rarest of all beasts. This is actually a vindictive prosecution,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cIf there is ever going to be a vindictive prosecution motion that is successful, it will be this motion.”<\/p>\n Cotter pointed to the evidence that Trump ordered the attorney general to indict Comey and others, and his long-standing animus toward the former FBI director.<\/a><\/p>\n The Trump administration argues the charges against Comey are legitimate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe societal interests in this prosecution are readily apparent and overwhelming. The defendant is a former FBI Director who lied to Congress about his conduct while at the helm of the Nation\u2019s primary federal law-enforcement agency. His prosecution implicates societal interests of the highest order,\u201d DOJ wrote in a filing. <\/p>\n Comey, it says, \u201casks the Court to take the extraordinary step of dismissing his indictment because \u2014 he says \u2014 he is being vindictively and selectively prosecuted. Given the deep-seated separation-of-powers principles at stake, his request can be granted only if \u201cthe Constitution requires it.\u201d<\/p>\n Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whom the Trump administration indicted in October, <\/a>separately filed motions to disqualify acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan from her post on the grounds that her appointment was unlawful.<\/p>\n Trump named Halligan, a former Trump personal lawyer with no prior experience as a prosecutor, after her predecessor resigned under pressure<\/a> to indict Comey and James.<\/p>\n A separate judge, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, earlier this month accused the DOJ of taking a \u201cindict first, investigate later\u201d <\/a>approach to Comey’s case.<\/p>\n
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