{"id":1891,"date":"2025-09-26T14:36:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:36:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:36:49","slug":"ex-fbi-director-james-comey-indicted-5-things-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1891","title":{"rendered":"Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted: 5 things to know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The counts stem from testimony Comey gave before the Senate in 2020 as it probed investigations into ties Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign had with Russia, which the president has long decried as a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While Justice Department officials have portrayed the indictment as a step toward accountability, Comey said his \u201cheart is broken\u201d for the agency and that he is innocent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey is set to be arraigned 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Here are five things to know.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Comey faces obstruction, perjury charges<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey\u2019s indictment includes two counts: false statements to Congress, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The felonies each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison,\u00a0though if convicted, Comey would be a first-time offender who would likely receive a lesser punishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">They stem from an exchange between Comey and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a Sept. 30, 2020, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cruz asked Comey if he had ever authorized a leak about the FBI\u2019s investigations into Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails and connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Former FBI Director James Comey indicted\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/APBaWcuegKo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The question zeroed in on conflicting accounts between Comey and his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, regarding\u00a0a leak\u00a0to The Wall Street Journal about the Clinton investigation days before the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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\u2019t involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A\u00a02018 inspector general report sided with Comey\u2019s account, saying McCabe authorized the leak and \u201clacked candor\u201d when he told his boss and later investigators that he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWhat Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who\u2019s telling the truth?\u201d Cruz pressed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey responded, \u201cI can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The false statements charge requires prosecutors to prove that Comey \u201cknowingly and willfully\u201d made a \u201cfalse, fictitious, or fraudulent\u201d statement to Cruz, and it was material.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The obstruction charge requires prosecutors to show that Comey in making a false statement corruptly endeavored \u201cto influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Indictment followed Trump pressure campaign for charges<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The changes against Comey followed a\u00a0pressure campaign\u00a0from 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cPam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, \u2018same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam \u201cShifty\u201d Schiff, Leticia??? They\u2019re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,\u2019\u201d Trump posted on social media, referencing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThere is a GREAT CASE\u2026.We can\u2019t delay any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4 hidden pb-5 md:block\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Those comments came after the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned under pressure to bring charges against Comey and James. Siebert reportedly had held off due to a lack of evidence in the cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Just days later, Trump officials brought an indictment before a grand jury, borrowing a line popular among Democrats in announcing the move.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cNo one is above the law,\u201d Bondi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cNowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose,\u201d he wrote in a post on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cEveryone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account \u2013 no matter their perch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Grand jury declined to indict on 1 count<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Though Comey was indicted on two charges,\u00a0court papers show federal prosecutors initially pursued three.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Graham asked Comey whether he recalled \u201cbeing taught\u201d of Clinton\u2019s \u201capproval of a plan\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey replied, \u201cThat doesn\u2019t ring any bells with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOK. Well, that\u2019s a pretty stunning thing, it didn\u2019t ring a bell,\u201d Graham said in return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The grand jury\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Comey professes his innocence<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey responded to news of his own indictment in a short video posted to Instagram, professing his innocence and vowing he would not be intimidated by the administration\u2019s charges against him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cSomebody that I love dearly recently said that \u2018fear is the tool of a tyrant.\u2019 And she\u2019s right,\u201d Comey said in the video, quoting what his daughter, Maurene, said after\u00a0she was fired\u00a0as a federal prosecutor in July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cBut I\u2019m not afraid, and I hope you\u2019re 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,\u201d Comey added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cMy heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m innocent. So, let\u2019s have a trial. And keep the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Comey, who earned the ire of Democrats in 2016 with his handling of an investigation into then-candidate Clinton\u2019s email server, had become increasingly outspoken since his departure from the FBI in pushing back against Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The\u00a0former FBI director\u00a0endorsed\u00a0former President Biden in the 2020 election and backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the\u00a02024\u00a0race\u00a0against Trump.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The latest chapter in the Trump-Comey feud<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Thursday\u2019s indictment followed years of attacks from Trump against Comey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017 while the bureau\u2019s 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 \u201cdirty cop\u201d and saying he and other\u00a0FBI leaders\u00a0were \u201cscum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The president earlier this year alleged an Instagram post from Comey that featured seashells on a beach arranged to form the numbers \u201c8647\u201d was a call for his assassination. Stemming from the hospitality industry, \u201c86\u201d can refer to either the need to cut off a client or unlist a menu item.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Democrats and other Trump critics were quick to sound the alarm, suggesting Comey\u2019s indictment was an indication the president was willing to use the Justice Department against his opponents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cDonald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics,\u201d Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called Comey\u2019s indictment \u201cone of the most sickening abuses of power in the history of the DOJ.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cTrump is using every tool available to get vengeance on his political rivals. It\u2019s corruption plain and simple\u2014 our country deserves better,\u201d Himes posted on the social platform X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><i>Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former FBI Director James Comey was hit with two federal charges late Thursday, days after President Trump ramped<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1893,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions\/1893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}