A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw |
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U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary/Handout via REUTERS |
President Trump achieved a long-sought goal when federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, but the president's loud campaign against his longtime foe may have undermined the case by opening the door to a claim of vindictive prosecution. Here’s what to know: |
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Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of false statements and obstruction related to 2020 congressional testimony. His lawyer argues the case is retaliatory, stemming from Comey's criticism of Trump.
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Vindictive prosecution motions require criminal defendants to prove to a judge that prosecutors brought charges against them in retaliation for exercising their legal rights.
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Experts said Comey may argue his criticisms of Trump are protected under the right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment, or that the prosecution was in retaliation for carrying out his duties as a government official.
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Trump’s repeated public calls for Comey’s prosecution, including a direct message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, could support Comey's claim that the charges were politically motivated.
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Similar motions in recent politically-charged cases have failed. Hunter Biden claimed that he was charged with illegal firearm possession and tax evasion due to pressure from Republican politicians, and Trump made a similar bid in the federal case accusing him of unlawfully plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
- Judges rejected Biden's and Trump's arguments, finding that neither had shown a direct link between criticism by their political opponents and the DOJ's decision to bring charges. But experts said the circumstances leading up to Comey's indictment were different and may help his argument.
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Luc Cohen and Andrew Goudsward have more analysis here.
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U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, will hold a hearing in Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego's case challenging the Trump administration's efforts to deport him. Xinis may consider Abrego's bid to be released from immigration detention. There is also a status conference at 9 a.m. CT in Abrego's criminal case in Tennessee to discuss the scope of discovery the government must hand over for Abrego's vindictive prosecution motion.
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The 9th Circuit will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by the National Coalition for Men against the Selective Service System alleging sex discrimination by requiring only men to register for the draft. The group filed a similar case in 2013 which made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices ultimately denied cert because Congress was poised to act on the issue but a law adding women to the draft has not yet been passed. Read the group’s opening brief to the 9th Circuit here.
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The 11th Circuit will hear arguments in the Zantac products liability litigation. The plaintiffs are appealing a Florida federal court judge’s ruling that the opinions of their expert witnesses that Zantac can cause cancer were not supported by sound science. The Delaware Supreme Court issued a similar ruling in July. Most U.S. litigation over the drug has been resolved.
- Luigi Mangione is due to file legal papers urging a judge to dismiss his criminal case on charges of murdering UnitedHealth insurance executive Brian Thompson.
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Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Chief 6th Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton will speak at a Harvard Law Review symposium titled “Judicial Review in Jeopardy?”
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes. |
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- Elite U.S. universities battling a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit are taking aim at one of the plaintiffs' law firms, setting up an unusual showdown over the impact of litigation funding on class action certification. Find out more in this week’s Billable Hours.
- The U.S. Senate further shifted the ideological balance of the 3rd Circuit to the right on Thursday by confirming President Trump's second nominee Jennifer Mascott. Read more here.
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Moves: Desiree Grace, a former federal prosecutor in New Jersey fired by the Trump administration as it seeks to install a former personal lawyer to the president as the state’s top federal prosecutor, returned to McCarter & English … Wilson Elser added litigation partners Mary Butler, Lorianne Hanson, Nicole Jackson, Daniel Park and Evelyn Winters from Boullivant Houser, and Dan Moone, John Versnel and Steven Wraith from Lee Smart … Former Manhattan assistant district attorney Caitlin Connolly joined Pryor Cashman as a family law partner ... Nelson Mullins added employment law partners Salvador Simao and Luis Hansen from Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete … Financial services and Fintech partner Joshua Kaplan moved to Morrison Foerster from Wilson Sonsini … M&A partner John Martin joined Barnes & Thornburg from Chapman and Cutler.
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