FILE - FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 3, 2017, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 3, 2017, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
By Michael Kunzelman And Jonathan J. Cooper The Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) 鈥 James Comey鈥檚 son-in-law resigned as a federal prosecutor Thursday minutes after the former FBI director was indicted.
Troy Edwards quit his job 鈥渢o uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country,鈥 he wrote in a one-sentence resignation letter addressed to Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. Attorney in Virginia鈥檚 Eastern District, the office that charged Comey and employed Edwards.
Edwards was the deputy chief of the National Security Section, a prestigious role in a U.S. attorney鈥檚 office that covers the Pentagon and CIA headquarters, handling some of the highest-profile espionage cases.
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He was on the team of prosecutors who convicted Oath Keepers founder of orchestrating a violent plot to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election.
Comey was charged with lying to Congress days after Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. Halligan had rushed to present the case to a grand jury this week before the five-year statute of limitations expired. She brought the charges days after the , who had not charged Comey and had faced pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in .
Comey said Thursday that he’s innocent and welcomed a trial, adding he has 鈥済reat confidence in the federal judicial system.鈥
Edwards was watching from the front row of the courtroom gallery when his wife鈥檚 father was indicted Thursday evening.
His resignation comes two months after the Justice Department fired Comey鈥檚 daughter, , without explanation in July. She had been a veteran lawyer in the Southern District of New York, long considered the most elite federal prosecution office.
She this month to get her job back, saying her firing was for political reasons and was unconstitutional.
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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s first name.
