Former FBI Director James Comey is set to appear in court on Wednesday for a high-profile arraignment, facing charges of false statements and obstructing a congressional inquiry.
Comey, 64, who asserts his innocence, stands in the same Alexandria, Virginia courthouse where notorious figures like 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and the ISIS cell dubbed the Beatles were tried.
Presiding over the case is U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, known for handling significant cases such as sentencing an MS-13 gang leader to life imprisonment for involvement in multiple brutal murders.
This marks a remarkable development in the career of a man who served as one of the nation’s leading law enforcement figures from 2013 until his abrupt dismissal by President Donald Trump in 2017.
The decision to charge Comey, one of the president’s most high-profile enemies, has ignited a political firestorm.
Democrats have accused the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi of leveraging the Department of Justice for political retaliation against adversaries, claims they have denied.
James Comey is appearing as a defendant in a court where he previously brought cases as FBI Director
The indictment against him has been brought by Lindsey Halligan, the new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
The indictment, presented by Lindsey Halligan, the new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, charges Comey with two counts.
The first is ‘making false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the United States Government.’
It is alleged that on September 30, 2020 he ‘willfully and knowingly made a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement’ while testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The statement was that he had not ‘authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1.’
Prosecutors allege that, contrary to that statement, he did authorize someone else to ‘serve as an anonymous source in news reports.’
‘PERSON 1’ in the indictment is believed to be Hillary Clinton, with Comey’s statement relating to an investigation into her private email server.
In the second count, Comey is charged with obstruction of a Congressional proceeding.
It is alleged he ‘did corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede ‘ a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation by ‘making false and misleading statements.’
If convicted Comey faces up to five years in prison, although actual sentences for similar crimes are typically less than the maximum.
When he was charged on September 25, Halligan said: ‘The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level.
‘The balance of power is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and it relies upon accountability and a forthright presentation of facts from executive leadership to congressional oversight.
‘Any intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance is a violation of professional responsibility and, most importantly, the law.’
President Trump and James Comey in January 2017 before he was fired as FBI Director
Comey was appearing at the he Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia
Trump fired Comey in 2017, early in his first term in office, and they have been engaged in a long-running feud ever since.
The president blames Comey for having started an investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 campaign that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller spent two years investigating whether Trump’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin to help him win the White House.
In the end, Mueller uncovered no evidence that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia
Trump has long vented about the ‘Russia hoax,’ which overshadowed the start of his first term.
However, the charges against Comey do not relate to the Russia investigation.
President Trump has been lambasting Comey ever since firing him in 2017
Attorney General Pam Bondi was grilled by senators this week with Democrats accusing her of politicizing the Department of Justice
According to Solomon Wisenberg, a former federal prosecutor, Comey appears to have made the statement pinpointed in the indictment in response to questioning from Senator Ted Cruz at the 2020 judiciary committee hearing.
Cruz was pressing Comey over the role that his deputy director, Andy McCabe, played in authorizing a leak to The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal story examined how the FBI handled an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State.
The senator noted that Comey had told Congress in 2017 that he had not authorized anyone to speak to reporters.
But Cruz then asserted that McCabe had ‘publicly and repeatedly said he leaked information to The Wall Street Journal and that you (Comey) were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it.’
Comey responded: ‘I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.’
Prior top the arraignment Comey, who has denied wrongdoing, said: ‘My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump,
‘My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial.’
The indictment against Comey was brought by Lindsey Halligan, formerly special assistant to the president, and now U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
Lindsey Halligan signed the indictment against Comey
Last week, an FBI agent was relieved of duty for declining to arrange a ‘perp walk’ of Comey in front of news cameras.
The Department of Justice is also investigating other opponents of Trump, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and hos former national security adviser John Bolton.
Last week, Trump said he expected more people to be charged.
‘It’s not a list, but I think there’ll be others. It’s about justice. It’s not revenge,’ he said.
he said Comey had 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,’
On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected questions as she was accused, during a congressional hearing, of
seeking vengeance against Trump’s political opponents.
Hakeem Jeffries, the democrat leader in the House, said the indictment of Comey was a ‘disgraceful attack on the rule of law.’
Comey set out his disgust for Trump in his 2018 memoir, ‘A Higher Loyalty.’
He wrote: ‘This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.’
He recalled a private meeting with Trump early in his first term in which the president demanded allegiance, which Comey likened it to a mafia induction.
Comey has been involved in a long-running feud with the president
Comey posted a social media message which he denied was a call to violence
Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it was investigating a social media post by Comey that Trump and his allies interpreted as a call for violence against the president.
In an Instagram post, Comey wrote ‘cool shell formation on my beach walk’ under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for ’86 47.’
Comey deleted the post and said he did not know ‘some folks associate those numbers with violence.’
Halligan 36, a former beauty queen, became U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor Erik Siebert was ousted last week.
Siebert’s office led a criminal probe involving Comey and his role in the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
He privately told Justice Department officials he lacked strong evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
In a Truth Social post last month, Trump said: ‘I fired him [Siebert], and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so.’
A five-year statute of limitations for bringing a case against Comey over statements in the congressional hearing on September 30, 2020 ran out last week.
Halligan secured an indictment before a grand jury shortly prior to the legal deadline.
