(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — Though President Trump was miles away from the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, Wednesday morning, his words loomed large over the arguments before U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff as the government sought to defend its case against former FBI Director James Comey.

Trump’s Sept. 20 social media post demanding that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”” was at the center of Comey’s argument that the president was using the justice system as a “cudgel to damage and intimidate his political opponents.”

“It is effectively an admission that this is a political prosecution,” Comey’s attorney Michael Dreeben said. “The president is underscoring what he wants done here.”

Dreeben argued that by replacing the prosecutor leading the U.S. attorney’s office in Virgini

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