Former FBI Director James Comey was hit with two federal charges late Thursday, days after President Trump ramped up pressure on his Justice Department to prosecute his most prominent adversaries.
The counts stem from testimony Comey gave before the Senate in 2020 as it probed investigations into ties Trump’s 2016 campaign had with Russia, which the president has long decried as a “witch hunt.”
While Justice Department officials have portrayed the indictment as a step toward accountability, Comey said his “heart is broken” for the agency and that he is innocent.
Comey is set to be arraigned on Oct. 9 in federal court in Alexandria, Va. His case will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, an appointee of former President Biden.
Here are five things to know.
Comey faces obstruction, perjury charges
Comey’s indictment includes two counts: false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
The felonies each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, though if convicted, Comey would be a first-time offender who would likely receive a lesser punishment.
They stem from an exchange between Comey and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a Sept. 30, 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Cruz asked Comey if he had ever authorized a leak about the FBI’s investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The question zeroed in on conflicting accounts between Comey and his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, regarding a leak to The Wall Street Journal about the Clinton investigation days before the 2016 election.
McCabe has indicated Comey knew about and authorized the leak. Comey maintains he was unaware and that McCabe in a conversation after the story published implied he, too, wasn’t involved.
A 2018 inspector general report sided with Comey’s account, saying McCabe authorized the leak and “lacked candor” when he told his boss and later investigators that he didn’t.
“What Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?” Cruz pressed.
Comey responded, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized.”
The false statements charge requires prosecutors to prove that Comey “knowingly and willfully” made a “false, fictitious, or fraudulent” statement to Cruz, and it was material.
The obstruction charge requires prosecutors to show that Comey in making a false statement corruptly endeavored “to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law.”
Comey is charged in the Eastern District of Virginia because his congressional testimony was given remotely from his home in McLean, Va., due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indictment followed Trump pressure campaign for charges
The changes against Comey followed a pressure campaign from Trump, who over the weekend issued a direct call to Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges against Comey as well as others the president considers to be his political adversaries.
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump posted, referencing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).
“There is a GREAT CASE….We can’t delay any longer.”
Those comments came after the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Seibert, resigned under pressure to bring charges against Comey and James. Seibet reportedly had held off due to a lack of evidence in the cases.
Trump swiftly installed Lindsey Halligan, who was tapped as an interim replacement. Halligan, a White House staffer who practiced insurance law before she joined his criminal defense team in 2022, has never tried a federal case.
Just days later, Trump officials brought an indictment before a grand jury, borrowing a line popular among Democrats in announcing the move.
“No one is above the law,” Bondi said in announcing the indictment.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who worked on a review of the 2016 investigation as a staffer on the House Intelligence Committee, also implied Comey was corrupt.
“Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch.”
Comey’s testimony before the Senate came on Sept. 30, 2020, meaning the indictment was filed just days before the five-year statute of limitations in the case was set to expire.
Grand jury declined to indict on one count
Though Comey was indicted on two charges, court papers show that federal prosecutors initially pursued three.
The Justice Department asked a federal grand jury to indict Comey on another count of making false statements to Congress stemming from an exchange with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during the same Sept. 30, 2020, hearing.
Graham asked Comey whether he recalled “being taught” of Clinton’s “approval of a plan” to use talk of Trump and Russian hackers interfering in U.S. elections as a means of distracting from her use of a private email server.
Comey replied, “That doesn’t ring any bells with me.”
“Okay. Well, that’s a pretty stunning thing, it didn’t ring a bell,” Graham said in return.
The grand jury’s foreperson indicated that 12 or more grand jurors did not agree to indict on the charge regarding the exchange, meaning prosecutors could not move forward with it.
Comey professes his innocence
Comey responded to news of his own indictment in a short video posted to Instagram, professing his innocence and vowing that he would not be intimidated by the administration’s charges against him.
“Somebody that I love dearly recently said that ‘fear is the tool of a tyrant.’ And she’s right,” Comey said in the video, quoting what his daughter, Maurene Comey, said after she was fired as a federal prosecutor in July.
“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,” Comey added.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,” he said. “And I’m innocent. So, let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”
Comey, who earned the ire of Democrats in 2016 with his handling of an investigation into then-candidate Hillary Clinton’s email server, had become increasingly outspoken since his departure from the FBI in pushing back against Trump.
The former FBI director endorsed former President Biden in the 2020 election and backed former Vice President Harris in the 2024 race against Trump.
The latest chapter in the Trump-Comey feud
Thursday’s indictment followed years of attacks from Trump against Comey.
Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017 while the bureau’s investigation was still ongoing, leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump and Comey have had an adversarial relationship ever since, with Trump calling Comey a “dirty cop” and said he and other FBI leaders were “scum.”
The president earlier this year alleged an Instagram post from Comey that featured seashells on a beach arranged to form the numbers “8647” was a call for his assassination. Stemming from the hospitality industry, “86” can refer to either the need to cut off a client or unlist a menu item.
Democrats and other Trump critics were quick to sound the alarm, suggesting Comey’s indictment was an indication the president was willing to use the Justice Department against his opponents.
“Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called Comey’s indictment “one of the most sickening abuses of power in the history of the DOJ.”
“Trump is using every tool available to get vengeance on his political rivals. It’s corruption plain and simple— our country deserves better,” Himes posted on X.
