WASHINGTON: James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution.

Trump recently demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi bring charges against the former FBI director, saying the delay was bad for his "reputation."

President Donald Trump gloated about the filing of criminal charges against James Comey, whom he fired as FBI director in 2017, in his first White House term.