James Comey indicted on perjury, obstruction charges

RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — A grand jury indicted former FBI director James Comey on perjury charges Thursday, less than a week before the statute of limitations ran out.

“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X without mentioning Comey by name. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

Comey faces one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, according to the 2-page indictment filed in the Alexandria, Virginia-based federal court.

President Donald Trump celebrated the announcement on his social media network 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 said. “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!”

Comey’s attorney Patrick Fitzgerald denied any wrongdoing.

“Jim Comey denies the charges filed today in their entirety,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “We look forward to vindicating him in the courtroom."

Prosecutors say Comey lied under oath during a 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the FBI’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Comey told Texas Senator Ted Cruz that he did not authorize a leak of information to The Wall Street Journal for an October 2016 article concerning the Justice Department’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Cruz soon sent a letter to the Justice Department detailing that Comey’s testimony contradicted that of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who had insisted that Comey knew of the leak.

The indictment comes after President Donald Trump, a longtime vocal adversary of Comey, parted ways with U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert over his unwillingness to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James for purported mortgage fraud linked to real estate transactions in Norfolk, Virginia.

Siebert’s replacement, Lindsey Halligan, followed through with the indictment of Comey despite reports that line prosecutors sent a memo suggesting the case is too weak to pursue. Trump intensified the matter in recent days on Truth Social, where he criticized Bondi for not prosecuting Comey and James sooner.

“There is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so,” Trump posted on Sept. 20. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!"

Comey drew the ire of both political parties for his investigations of Trump and then Democratic presidential front-runner Clinton. Democrats blame Comey’s investigation into Clinton’s use of a personal email server during her time as secretary of state in the months before the 2016 election as a key reason for Trump’s win.

Comey and the FBI did not charge Clinton with any wrongdoing. Still, they held a press conference in July 2016 where Comey publicly criticized Clinton for what he called “extremely careless” email practices. Trump fired Comey in 2017.