Dear readers,
Did you miss James Comey? Well, he’s back: he’s filed a flurry of motions attacking his prosecution for seashell-related offenses: one to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution, another alleging legal insufficiency of the allegations against him, and two seeking information about potential government misconduct, including the possibility that the government lied about what it understood “86” to mean. Generally, you can’t dismiss a criminal case before trial for insufficient evidence — the grand and petit juries are supposed to be the arbiters of the sufficiency of evidence at various stages — but you might get a dismissal if the actions you’re alleged to have committed don’t constitute a crime, and that’s what Comey is hoping for here.
Meanwhile, Olympian James Hearn also wants to look into possible grand-jury shenanigans leading up to his indictment for damaging the liner of the reflecting pool, which he says was already in terrible shape before he touched it.
All listeners get our discussions of those cases. For premium subscribers, there’s also:
Why the Trump administration has given up, for now, on its subpoenas to New York Times reporters.
The administration admitting it canceled energy project grants based on whether they were in states that voted for Trump.
More Epstein files shenanigans.
Justin Baldoni — already not having a great couple of years — losing an anti-SLAPP lawsuit against his production company brought by The New York Times.
Chriayu Rana suing JP Morgan again, this time in federal court, and…
an exciting new business venture from Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl that is not (yet) the subject of a legal proceeding.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
