Former FBI Director James Comey indicted on obstruction, false statement charges

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia on charges of making a false statement and obstruction related to testimony he gave to Congress five years ago.

Comey, a frequent target of President Donald Trump‘s ire, is accused of lying during testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, 2020.

“The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level,” said interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan of the Eastern District of Virginia, whose office will prosecute Comey on the two criminal counts.

Comey posted a video response to the indictment on Instagram, saying: “I am not afraid.”

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

He added: “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, which it does. 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.”

Halligan was installed in her post at Trump’s direction earlier this week when her predecessor resigned under pressure from the president after he objected to filing criminal charges against Comey.

“The balance of power is a bedrock [principle] of our democracy, and it relies upon accountability and a forthright presentation of facts from executive leadership to congressional oversight,” Halligan said in a statement. “Any intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance is a violation of professional responsibility and, most importantly, the law.”

A court filing indicated that federal prosecutors asked the grand jury to indict Comey on two counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction.

The filing said that the grand jury did not indict Comey on one of the false statement counts because more than 12 grand jurors “did not concur” in indicting on count one.

The five-year statute of limitations on a charge related to Comey’s testimony was set to lapse next week.

If convicted, Comey faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison. Federal criminal sentences are often less than the maximum because of federal guidelines.

Comey’s attorney, Jessica Carmichael, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

The charges came days after Trump publicly complained to Attorney General Pam Bondi that “nothing is being done” about Comey and other of the president’s perceived enemies. Trump claimed those people were “all guilty as hell.”

Trump gloated about Comey’s indictment in a post on Truth Social.

“JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” Trump wrote.

“Today he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts. He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote.

Bondi referenced Comey’s indictment, without mentioning him by name, as news of the charges broke.

“No one is above the law,” Bondi wrote in a post on X.

“Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Bondi said. “We will follow the facts in this case.”

FBI Director Kash Patel, in his own post on X, wrote, “Today, your FBI took another step in its promise of full accountability.”

“For far too long, previous corrupt leadership and their enablers weaponized federal law enforcement, damaging once proud institutions and severely eroding public trust,” Patel wrote. “Every day, we continue the fight to earn that trust back, and under my leadership, this FBI will confront the problem head-on.”

Halligan, 36, has no prior prosecutorial experience, but previously represented Trump in legal cases.

She replaced Erik Siebert as interim U.S. attorney for Virginia’s Eastern District.

Siebert had been tasked with investigating Comey and another Trump foe, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil business fraud case against the president.

But Seibert’s probe of mortgage fraud claims against James turned up insufficient evidence to charge her, NBC News reported.

Siebert also raised concerns about a criminal case against Comey.

“I want him out,” Trump recently said of Siebert.

Trump has long expressed contempt for Comey, whom he fired during his first term in the White House in May 2017.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, condemned the indictment of Comey.

“Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics,” Warner said in a statement, which noted the circumstances of Siebert’s departure.

“This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power,” Warner said. “Our system depends on prosecutors making decisions based on evidence and the law, not on the personal grudges of a politician determined to settle scores.”

“By ousting a respected, independent prosecutor and replacing him with a partisan loyalist, Trump is undermining one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s offices in the country and eroding the rule of law itself.”

Comey, in his September 2020 testimony, told Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that he stood by prior testimony that he did not, as FBI director, authorize a leak of information to The Wall Street Journal for an October 2016 article that detailed a Justice Department probe of then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s email use.

Cruz told the Justice Department in a letter three months later that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe admitted knowing about and authorizing the leak.

McCabe insisted that Comey was aware of his decision to authorize the disclosure, while Comey “has denied this claim,” Cruz wrote.

“Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe’s statements are irreconcilably contradictory,” Cruz wrote. “Mr. McCabe says that he told Mr. Comey of the leak and that Mr. Comey approved — effectively authorizing the leak after the fact. Mr. Comey, on the other hand, has said that he neither authorized the leak nor knew of Mr. McCabe’s involvement.”

“One of them is lying under oath — a federal crime,” Cruz wrote.