Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted

Written By Lexx Thornton

James Comey, the former FBI director and one of Donald Trump’s most frequent targets, is expected to surrender to the authorities in the coming days after being indicted on Thursday evening on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding. 

The stunning indictment by a grand jury was the latest and most dramatic move yet in the president’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries. 

The indictment, filed in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, shows Comey’s charges centred on whether he lied and misled lawmakers during testimony in September 2020 about the Russia investigation. 

While the precise details were not clear in the sparse, two-page indictment, it appeared to reference Comey’s testimony that he had never authorized someone at the FBI to leak to the news media about the Trump or Hillary Clinton investigations – a claim prosecutors alleged was false. 

“No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, said in a statement on Thursday. 

Comey declared on Thursday night that he is innocent. He had been expected to turn himself in on Friday, but by Friday morning, that appeared to become less likely. 

The indictment followed Trump’s instruction to Bondi to “move now” to prosecute Comey and other officials he considers political foes, trampling on the Justice Department’s tradition of independence. 

It also came less than a week after Lindsey Halligan was installed as the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, after Trump fired her predecessor, Erik Siebert, after he declined to bring charges against Comey over concerns there was insufficient evidence.  

Halligan, most recently a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who has no prosecutorial experience, was also presented with a memo earlier this week laying out why charges should not be brought. But the Justice Department still pushed it through, people familiar with the matter said. 

Comey said in a video statement posted on Instagram later on Thursday that he was innocent and welcomed a trial. 

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” Comey said. 

Referencing the farewell email his daughter, Maureen, sent after she was fired from her job as a federal prosecutor in New York, Comey said: “Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant. And she’s right. But I’m not afraid. And I hope you’re not either. 

“I hope instead you are engaged. You are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”