Andrew Weissmann

And so vindictive prosecution is where you are looking for someone being singled out for impermissible reasons.

And so just because you did your job, but just because you referred the president or you opened an investigation into the president, those are not legitimate reasons to have a sort of tit for tat relationship.

And so that kind of claim, again, could really blow up in Donald Trump's face.

Imagine if that motion, I think, will certainly be made.

Imagine the judge in this case, who's a very, very experienced judge who's been on the bench either as a magistrate or a district judge appointed by President Obama to the district court.

holding a hearing on this.

Imagine what that would look like where Jim Comey gets to put witnesses on.

This is the kind of thing where, you know, I don't know that the White House really thought through sort of giving James Comey this forum to be heard where he is going to be able to potentially call witnesses and

and have a trial.

And as I said, I really think this is one where it's this is such a horrendous moment for the rule of law, for the Department of Justice, for the country writ large.

But I do think that there is the potential for a little like we saw with Mr. Kimmel, that this is that we could see a reversal here where in a matter of weeks,

where we see sort of real pushback by the judge, by a jury, in terms of at a hearing, in terms of what happens here.

So as bad as tonight is in terms of the rule of law in America and sort of going down the road of a sort of Nixonian Hoover type use of the legal system, this is one where

I do have sort of cautious optimism in terms if there really is no there there that the system will hold.

Well, in order to sign the indictment, the U.S.

attorney, the sitting U.S.

attorney has to sign.

And presumably she's not saying that she didn't see the document she signed.

But a lot of times there are people who are lower level who sign on behalf of the U.S.

attorney.