A former Watergate attorney is warning that the Department of Justice’s prosecuting attorney in its case against James Comey is “playing a pretty dangerous game” in going after the former FBI director.
In an exclusive interview with Newsweek published on Wednesday, just prior to Comey’s arraignment, Nick Akerman said the bar may launch an investigation into prosecutor Lindsey Halligan which could result in her disbarment.
“First of all, she’s taken on something that she has absolutely no background to do, no experience doing, never was a prosecutor,” Akerman told the outlet adding that Halligan is “essentially being told to indict somebody as retribution because [President] Donald Trump perceives Comey as an enemy.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Patrick Fitzgerald, who is representing Comey, announced plans to file two motions prior to the trial. The first motion will allege malicious and selective prosecution, citing President Trump’s public statements regarding Comey’s prosecution. The second motion will contest the appointment of Halligan as U.S. attorney.
Akerman, who was an assistant prosecutor on Watergate, noted in an earlier Substack article that Halligan “will not be the first, nor likely the last, Trump lawyer to lose her law license for blindly following the whims of Donald Trump.”
“It’s unethical for a lawyer to do something in an area where they don’t have any expertise, and it’s even worse when you take into account when the experienced U.S. attorney who did investigate this matter determined that there was no case here,” Akerman added.
The DOJ argues that Comey is guilty and should face prosecution, alleging he misled investigators about authorizing leaks during his time as FBI director. To convict, prosecutors must prove his statements were false, that he knew they were false when made, and that they were material to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation.
Comey entered a plea of not guilty Wednesday when he appeared before U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff.
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