Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
Lawyers for Former FBI Director James Comey have asked the court to dismiss two federal charges filed against him over his alleged false statements to Congress in 2020, arguing that his testimony was truthful.
In a motion filed, Comey’s lawyers argued that Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) questions could not form the basis for his indictment because they were “fundamentally ambiguous” and that Comey’s answers to his questions were “literally true” and therefore cannot sustain a conviction.
His lawyers argued that the questions posed by Cruz, which prompted Comey’s alleged false testimony during the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, were lengthy and confusing, according to the legal filing.
“Specifically, after speaking for more than a minute, Senator Ted Cruz asked Mr. Comey to recall statements he had made three years earlier and to simultaneously address statements that Senator Cruz incorrectly claimed were made by Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” the motion stated.
“In doing so, Senator Cruz never indicated that he wanted Mr. Comey to address the statements or activities of any person except for McCabe.”
Comey’s lawyers argued that while the government has the authority to prosecute witnesses who misled investigators by giving materially false answers to clear questions, it cannot “create confusion by posing an imprecise question and then seek to exploit that confusion by placing an after-the-fact nefarious interpretation on the ensuing benign answer.”
“Indeed, basic due process principles in criminal law require that the questioner frame his questions with clarity so that a witness does not have to guess,” the lawyers stated in the motion.
“Fundamental to any false statement charge are both clear questions and false answers. Neither exists here.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
The DOJ charged Comey in September with one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction in a criminal case, which carry potential prison time.
Comey also filed two additional motions on Oct. 20, alleging that the Trump administration brought a vindictive and selective prosecution and relied on an illegally appointed prosecutor.
The motions alleged that President Donald Trump sought to bring a case against one of his political opponents after multiple investigations, even though prosecutors previously said there was insufficient evidence. Comey argued that in allegedly doing so, the Trump administration violated multiple aspects of the Constitution, including the due process and appointments clauses.
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