Former FBI Director James Comey was charged Thursday with crimes connected to his Senate testimony in 2020 about an investigation, a major strike against a high-profile figure who has long been the target of President Donald Trump’s anger.
鈥淣o one is above the law,鈥 Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
The indictment accuses Comey of making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a criminal proceeding. He declared his innocence Thursday night and said, 鈥淟et’s have a trial.鈥
鈥淢y family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump,鈥 Comey said in a video posted to Substack.
Comey, who was FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was during the president鈥檚 first term amid the government’s probe into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump鈥檚 2016 campaign.
Trump mentioned Comey last weekend in a social media post in which he complained that no charges had been filed against him yet.
What was the Russia probe?
Prosecutors did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia in 2016, but they found that Trump鈥檚 campaign had welcomed Moscow鈥檚 assistance.
Trump and his supporters have called the investigation a 鈥渉oax鈥 despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the campaign.
The indictment against Comey accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee when he said he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about an investigation.
Before the charges emerged Thursday, Trump told reporters that Comey was a 鈥渂ad person.鈥 He later reveled in news of the indictment.
鈥淗e 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,鈥 Trump said on his social media platform.
Comey scorched Trump in a book
Comey’s disgust for Trump was laid out , 鈥淎 Higher Loyalty.鈥
鈥淭his president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,鈥 Comey wrote. 鈥淗is leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.鈥
He recalled a private meeting with Trump early in his first presidency in which Trump demanded allegiance. Comey likened it to a Mafia induction.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it was investigating by Comey that Trump and his allies interpreted as a call for violence against the president.
In an Instagram post, Comey wrote 鈥渃ool shell formation on my beach walk鈥 under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for 鈥86 47.鈥 The Merriam-Webster dictionary says 86 is slang meaning 鈥渢o throw out,鈥 鈥済et rid of鈥 or 鈥渞efuse service to.鈥
Comey deleted the post and said he didn’t know 鈥渟ome folks associate those numbers with violence.鈥
Family ties
Comey鈥檚 daughter was a federal prosecutor for 10 years until she was fired in July by the Justice Department. Maurene Comey is , saying her dismissal was unconstitutional and connected to Trump鈥檚 hostility toward her father.
鈥淚f a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,鈥 Maurene Comey said in a . 鈥淒o not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.鈥
The White House said the decision came from Justice Department officials.
Separately, James Comey鈥檚 son-in-law, Troy Edwards, resigned Thursday as a federal prosecutor, minutes after the former FBI director was indicted.
