Former FBI director James Komei was charged after he urges Trump to prosecute the judicial prosecution
On Thursday, James Comey was charged with lying to Congress in a criminal case that was filed days after President Donald Trump appeared, urging the Prosecutor to try the former FBI director and other political enemies.
The indictment makes Mr. Kumi the first previous precedent government official facing the prosecution in relation to one of the most important grievances of Mr. Trump: The Laws Investigate Russian intervention In the 2016 elections, Mr. Trump and his supporters have long mocked this investigation as a “trick” and “charming chase” despite the multiple government reviews that show that Moscow intervened on behalf of the Republic’s campaign.
The accusation regulations of two types of concern to express a false statement of Congress during the certificate five years ago include in addition to obstructing a criminal procedure.
The criminal case is likely to deepen fears from the Ministry of Justice during the public prosecutor Pam BondiAnd he is Trump’s loyalists, his weapon in the pursuit of investigations and now trials from public figures that the president considers his political enemies.
It was presented as the White House took steps to exercise influence in unprecedented ways in the operations of the Ministry of Justice, which distinguishes the line between the law and politics of the agency where independence in making decisions in the prosecution is a basic principle.
Mr. Kumi was Firing After months of Trump’s first administration, it was the highest goal in Trump’s supporters who seek revenge. Mr. Kumi was distinguished by the name of social media on Saturday, in which Mr. Trump complained directly to Mrs. Bondi that she did not charge him.
In the next evening, Mr. Trump said in fact the true social fact The Public Prosecutor aims that the administration’s investigations did not lead to prosecutions. He said he would nominate Lindsay Halligan, the White House assistant, to be an American lawyer for the eastern region in Virginia. She was one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and has no experience as a federal public prosecutor.
“We cannot delay longer, he kills our reputation and credibility,” said Mr. Trump, noting the fact that he himself has been accused and stayed several times. “You must serve justice now !!!”
The office that filed the case against Mr. Kumi, the eastern region of Virginia, was thrown at the turmoil last week after that The resignation of prosecutors Eric Separte Under pressure to reach charges against Trump’s other goal, New York Prosecutor Leitia James, in Investigation of fraud in mortgage.
Mrs. Halligan rushed to bring the case to a major jury this week. The prosecutors resided whether Mr. Kumi lied to Congress during a certificate on September 30, 2020, and they had until Tuesday to file a case before the statute of limitations had ended for five years. The batch came to move forward, even when the general prosecutors in the office detailed in a memorandum on the pursuit of an accusation.
For years, Mr. Trump has been discovered by US intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 elections and the criminal investigation who tried to determine whether his campaign conspired with Moscow for the influence of this race. Public Prosecutors, led by Special Counselor Robert Muller, did not prove that Mr. Trump or his partners criminally complicated Russia, but they found that the campaign of Mr. Trump welcomed the help of Moscow.
Mr. Trump has seized the fact that Mr. Muller’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign and Kremlin colluded, and that there was there Great errors and neglects Made by the FBI in eavesdropping requests, to demand coordination. An investigation that has lasted for years was conducted in possible misconduct during Russia’s investigation, by a different special advisor, John Durham. This produced three criminal cases, including against the FBI lawyer, but not against senior government officials.
The criminal case against Mr. Comey does not matter the essence of the investigation in Russia. Instead, he accuses him of lied to the Senate Committee in his appearance of 2020 when he said he had never stated that he was an unknown source of a correspondent on the investigation.
The administration of Mr. Trump is trying to make an investigation into Russia as growth in an effort during the era of Democratic President Barack Obama for Moscow’s interference in the elections and undermining the legitimacy of Mr. Trump’s victory.
Administration officials, including the director of the CIA John Ratcliffe and the Director of National Intelligence Tolsi Gabbard, have He classified a series of documents It aims to get rid of the intelligence assessment force during the Obama era, which was published in January 2017 and who said that Moscow had participated in a wide campaign of intervention towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Kumi was for years of the main opponent of Mr. Trump. Mr. Kumi was a senior official at the Ministry of Justice in the administration of Republican President George W. Bush, chosen by Mr. Obama to lead the FBI in 2013 and was a manager when the office opened the investigation of Russia.
Mr. Kumi’s relationship with Mr. Trump was tense from the beginning and worsened when Mr. Kumi resisted the request of Mr. Trump at a special dinner for the White House to pledge to the president’s personal loyalty. This review is not close to the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporary note.
Mr. Trump launched Mr. Kumi in May 2017, a procedure later achieved by Muller due to the obstruction of potential justice.
After leaving him, Mr. Kumi authorized a close friend to participate with Jawhar correspondent, an unknown memo, who documented an oval request from Mr. Trump to close an investigation into the FBI in the first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Mr. Trump and his allies later leaked Mr. Kumi, so that the president accuses him of treason. Mr. Kumi himself described Mr. Trump as “the ego driven” and likened him to Mafia Don.
During the first period of Mr. Trump, the Ministry of Justice refused to prosecute Mr. Kumi for his dealings with his memoirs. Department Inspector General Has it issued a harsh critical report in 2019 saying that Mr. Kumi violated the policies of the FBI, including the failure to return the documents to the FBI after he was rejected and shared with his personal lawyer without permission from the FBI.
Earlier this year, the section The daughter of Mr. Kumi launchedMourin Komei, from her job as a public prosecutor in the southern region of New York. A lawsuit has been filed against her since then, saying that the end was implemented without any explanation and was done for political reasons.
This story was reported by Associated Press. The Associated Press Michael Conslan of Alexandria, Virginia.