Trump's Complaint Against Comey Likely to Fail, But Be Effective

Good. It's about time our side use lawfare.

If Comey and Mueller are friends there is an obvious conflict of interest.  I have been wondering why Mueller and Comey were allowed to collude before Comey's testimony.

The complaint which President Trump's lawyer has threatened to file against former FBI director James Comey, for admittedly leaking memos about his conversations with the president, is almost certain to fail in a legal sense, but it could be very successful in many other ways, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf....

However, notes Banzhaf, even a complaint which fails legally, and does not trigger any prosecution or other adverse action against the respondent, can be very beneficial to Trump and his team.

First, the actual filing of the complaint is bound to generate considerable publicity, thereby providing an additional opportunity for his lawyers to try to explain in great detail to the public why they think Comey's conduct was wrongful and even illegal.

Second, the filing and resulting investigation would undercut Comey's credibility as a witness in any criminal proceeding, in the ongoing credibility battle between himself and Trump, and generally in the eyes of the public, suggests Banzhaf.

Third, it could create an apparent conflict of interest in the eyes of many since the same agency which would supposedly be conducting an impartial investigation of Comey is at the very same time working with him to obtain documents and testimony for Mueller's investigation.

Moreover, since Comey's own testimony strongly suggested that he and Mueller are friends, Trump can claim that Mueller will try to persuade those investigating the complaint against Comey to go easy on him - a bizarre parallel to what Comey claims Trump asked him to do regarding Michael Flynn.