As President Donald Trump publicly pressures the Justice Department to bring criminal cases against his perceived enemies, legal experts say former FBI Director James Comey could attempt a rarely successful legal maneuver that allows judges to throw out charges that were unfairly brought.

Requests to dismiss cases based on selective or vindictive prosecutions face extremely high hurdles in court and are overwhelmingly unsuccessful. Trump himself and Hunter Biden both tried (and failed) to employ the tactic in recent years.

But after Trump publicly called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to move more aggressively in her department’s pursuit of Comey and others, the former FBI director might have the facts needed to convince a judge to throw out the charges brought against him on Thursday.

“It’s a better case for Comey, because the president won’t shut up,” said retired federal Judge John Jones. “And that’s admissible, so he’s got a fighting chance, I think, on vindictive prosecution.”

Comey was charged with two felony counts for allegedly lying to Congress during testimony he gave in 2020. The alleged false statements concern his claim at the time that he didn’t authorize leaks to the press when he was at the helm of the bureau as it oversaw politically sensitive investigations.

Trump in recent days has urged