Trump has pushed for Comey to be prosecuted in a case that has raised concerns about the president using the justice system against his adversaries.Show Caption
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia – Longtime Trump nemesis and former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to Congress more than five years ago, taking the first step in a case his lawyer called a "vindictive" move from the Justice DepartmentAn attorney for the 64-year-old Comey entered pleas of not guilty to a pair of federal charges. He is accused of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding in testimony he gave about his investigation into 2016 election interference by Russia. Comey was released without bail pending a trial scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.The 6-foot-8 former top cop was surrounded by family in the Virginia courtroom. He told the judge a simple "thank you very much" during his court appearance that lasted no more than half an hour.The charges against Comey, championed by President Donald Trump, has pushed the bounds of the Justice Department's historic independence from the White House in publicly calling for Comey to be prosecuted. The case has raised concerns about a president using the justice system against his adversaries.A throng of protesters gathered outside of the courthouse on Oct. 8, chanting and holding signs criticizing the president.One emotional moment inside the courtroom came as Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey's close friend and a former senior Justice Department official, announced himself as defense attorney, saying "it is the honor of my life to represent Mr. Comey in this matter."Fitzgerald also told U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee, that Comey would be challenging the indictment on several grounds, including that Lindsey Halligan was not validly appointed as U.S. attorney. He also said he would move quickly to have the case dismissed on the grounds that it amounted to a “selective” prosecution.A grand jury indicted Comey on the two charges on Sept. 25. Halligan has handled the case after Trump installed her to replace Erik Siebert, a longtime federal prosecutor who either resigned or was fired from being the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he reportedly raised concerns about whether there was enough evidence to go after Comey.Comey has said he is innocent. The initial hearing in the criminal case marks the jumping-off point for what will likely be a heated and prolonged battle that could stretch out for months or years between the career public servant who will now find himself at a court defense table and the Justice Department under Trump.Comey's lawyer outlines robust, aggressive response to allegationsJames Comey's lawyer and friend Patrick Fitzgerald said the defense's first substantive contact with the government was Oct. 7. He said they have no idea who "person one and person three" are in the indictment, associates alleged to have been part of Comey’s illegal activity.Fitzgerald said he would introduce motions to dismiss the case on the grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution, abuse of the grand jury process and outrageous conduct.In addition, he said he's seeking to have Lindsey Halligan disqualified because she was not properly seated as U.S. attorney before she took the case before a grand jury.What is Comey accused of?A federal grand jury charged Comey on Sept. 25 with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding in 2020.Comey allegedly lied by testifying at a congressional hearing on Sept. 30, 2020, that he hadn't authorized someone at the FBI to anonymously leak information about an investigation to the media. According to the indictment, Comey authorized someone to serve as an anonymous source to reporters about the investigation, and he knew it at the time. The name of that source isn't provided in the indictment.Comey is accused of obstructing a congressional proceeding at that same hearing in 2020. The indictment alleges he corruptly tried to influence, obstruct and impede the Senate Judiciary Committee's inquiry "by making false and misleading statements."Comey said in a video statement that he is innocent and plans to fight the charges.Clark calls Biden DOJ a ‘historic embarrassment’Jeffrey Clark, an aide of President Donald Trump who was investigated after Trump's first term ended, blasted the Justice Department during the Biden administration as a “historic embarrassment” as well as the House committee he said had tried to “destroy” him.Clark, who is the acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for the White House, was an assistant attorney general during Trump’s first term. In that role, he drafted a letter for Trump to sign, urging Georgia officials to investigate alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost. Clark also suggested the state could submit alternate presidential electors to Congress, which sparked charges in Georgia that are still pending.The FBI searched Clark’s home in June 2022, a day before a House committee hearing about the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Clark said on social media Oct. 8, the same day former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned on charges he lied to Congress, that the hearing was “designed to try to use its monolithic structure to destroy me.”“The Biden DOJ was a historic embarrassment,” Clark said in another post. “It was a tool of woke, feeble ideologues in the Biden White House.”Comey indictment unusual but not the first for a former FBI directorJames Comey’s indictment on allegations he lied to Congress is highly unusual in that Trump urged his prosecution, but another former FBI chief faced criminal charges nearly 50 years ago during the Watergate investigation in the 1970s.Former acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray was indicted in 1978 on charges he conspired to “injure and oppress citizens of the United States.” That was a fancy phrase for allegedly authorizing unlawful break-ins during the Nixon administration aimed at finding fugitive members of the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist organization.Former President Richard Nixon had nominated Gray to succeed J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI during the Watergate scandal. But Gray was never confirmed due to concerns about how he managed that investigation. Gray resigned after acknowledging destroying documents from Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt.The Justice Department dropped the criminal charges in 1980.Trump aide Scavino cheers investigating the investigatorsDan Scavino, a White House deputy chief of staff who manages Trump's social media, posted a series of messages complaining about how he was investigated after Trump’s first term and cheering a Senate review of that probe.“After what we’ve been through, we’re not surprised,” Scavino wrote on social media Oct. 8, as former FBI Director James Comey was scheduled to be arraigned on charges he lied to Congress. “It gets worse. They stopped at nothing—GO SCORCHED EARTH.”The U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold Scavino in contempt for defying a subpoena from the committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, but he was never charged.Scavino said he was investigated for more than four years between Trump's terms, with process servers from the U.S. Marshals and the FBI knocking on his door. The Senate Judiciary Committee posted a department email in May 2022 saying that Scavino wouldn’t be charged, but he was investigated for another two years.Scavino said weeks before the administration reentered the White House in January, he received notice that the FBI had subpoenaed information about his Google account, which he called “a small taste of the INSANITY that many of us went through.”Comey, Trump, seashells in the sand: What was that controversy about?In a since-deleted Instagram post in May, James Comey shared a photo of the number 8647 printed with seashells on the beach, according to Reuters. Along with the photo, he wrote, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk."Some Trump supporters interpreted the post as a threat against President Donald Trump. "86" is slang for throwing out, getting rid of, or refusing service to, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Trump is currently serving as the 47th U.S. president.Federal law enforcement officials said on May 15 that they were investigating the post.Comey posted separately on May 15 that when he saw the shells on a beach walk, he assumed they were a political message, and he didn't realize that some people associate the numbers with violence."It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey said.– Aysha Bagchi, Melina Khan, and Josh MeyerTrump clashed with Comey during first termIn 2017, Trump fired Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into contacts between the Russian government and the 2016 Trump campaign.Just five days before the indictment, with a five-year deadline for bringing charges approaching, Trump posted on social media that Comey was "guilty as hell" and delay was not an option.That post, Trump's last-minute installation of an aide with no prosecutorial experience, Lindsey Halligan, who quickly sought charges against Comey, and his history of threatening political opponents with prosecution have fueled fears that the Justice Department's independence from a vengeful White House is hastily eroding.The Comey indictment follows a series of statements from Trump or actions by his political appointees that targeted his critics and those who have investigated him.A version of this story misstated James Comey's plea at his arraignment. His lawyer entered a plea of not guilty.
