On the Second Indictment of James Comey

New York City Bar Association Statement

The New York City Bar Association (the “City Bar”) is deeply troubled by the new indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.[1] As the City Bar warned during the previous prosecution of Mr. Comey, weaponization of the Justice Department to exact retribution against the President’s perceived political foes reflects a profound betrayal of the American principle of prosecutorial independence and an alarming departure from the rule of law.[2]

At that time, the City Bar cautioned that the indictment of Mr. Comey did not arise from a neutral, evidence-based assessment by career prosecutors, but instead appeared to follow the rejection of those prosecutors’ recommendations, as well as the President’s intervention in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The Association warned that such actions signaled a dangerous turning point in which the Department of Justice was being used as an instrument of politically inspired retaliation rather than an independent guardian of the law.

The present indictment only deepens those concerns. Rather than alleviating the serious questions previously raised, this second prosecution only confirms the appearance that Mr. Comey is being targeted for political reasons. This new set of charges against the same individual reinforces the perception that the machinery of federal criminal law is being deployed not in service of impartial justice, but as part of a broader campaign of retaliation.

The rule of law depends not only on fairness in fact, but on public confidence in the integrity and independence of prosecutorial decision-making. When successive, facially flimsy indictments follow prior concerns about political interference, that confidence is gravely undermined.

The new indictment, which attempts to criminalize a single social media post, reinforces these concerns. There is no indication that the government will be able to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Comey intended to threaten “to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the President based on a social media post opining that someone else’s seashell arrangement on the beach of the numbers “86 47” was “cool.”[3]

As the City Bar has previously emphasized, the justice system must never be used as a weapon of politics. That principle is foundational to our constitutional order. The latest indictment of Mr. Comey — coming after the serious deficiencies identified in the prior prosecution — serves only to reinforce the urgent need for adherence to that principle.

The City Bar therefore reiterates its call for strict observance of prosecutorial independence, transparency in charging decisions, and vigilant judicial oversight to ensure that constitutional protections are fully respected.

At stake is not only the fate of any one individual, but the public’s faith in our system of justice.

About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org