Indictment Charges Ex-FBI Director James Comey With False Statements to Congress

An indictment unsealed Thursday charges former FBI Director James Comey with making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a criminal proceeding, tied to his Senate testimony in 2020 about the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference and possible ties to the 2016 Trump campaign.

The filing marks a rare criminal action against a high-profile former official who has long been a target of President Donald Trump. Prosecutors say Comey lied when he testified that he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about an investigation. The charges allege that by giving or allowing such information to be shared, Comey impeded the government’s ability to pursue the investigation.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi appeared with prosecutors to announce the indictment, saying, “No one is above the law.” The move places Comey in the crosshairs of a political and legal drama that has persisted since he was fired by President Trump during the early stages of the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until his 2017 firing, declared his innocence Thursday night. In a video posted to Substack, he said, “Let’s have a trial,” and added that his family has long understood the costs of standing up to Donald Trump. The former director’s remarks echo a long-running public dispute between Comey and Trump over the conduct of federal investigations and the handling of sensitive information.

The indictment arrives amid a broader context in which Trump and his allies have sought to cast doubt on the investigations that shadowed his presidency. Trump had previously criticized Comey as part of his broader criticism of federal law enforcement, and he reacted on social media to the news of the indictment, calling Comey a “bad person” in earlier comments before praising the action as accountability for a figure he has long vilified.

The case touches on the aftermath of the Mueller investigation, which, while not establishing that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, concluded that the campaign welcomed Moscow’s help. The new charges channel that history into a distinct legal trajectory focusing on Comey’s congressional testimony rather than the broader 2016 questions.

As a matter of context, Comey’s 2018 memoir, A Higher Loyalty, portrayed the then-president as unethical and untethered to truth, and described a private meeting in which Trump allegedly demanded loyalty. In the wake of the indictment, observers have noted the enduring political resonance of Comey’s account and Trump’s repeated use of the Russia inquiry to fuel partisan debates about accountability and the rule of law.

The rollout also features family dynamics that have attracted attention in related legal fights. Maurene Comey, Comey’s daughter and a former federal prosecutor, has sued to regain her job, contending that her dismissal was unconstitutional and tied to political hostility toward her father. In a note to colleagues, she argued that fear should not dictate prosecutorial decisions. Separately, Troy Edwards, Comey’s son-in-law, resigned Thursday as a federal prosecutor, minutes after the indictment was announced.

White House officials said the decision to pursue the charges came from Justice Department leadership, signaling a procedural separation between the president and the ongoing legal process.