Former FBI Director James Comey is a longtime critic of US President Donald Trump, and testified against him in 2020.
Former FBI Director James Comey says he is innocent of criminal charges following his indictment by a United States court for allegedly making false statements and obstruction of justice.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I am innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith,” Comey said in a video posted on Instagram on Thursday evening in the US.
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The charges against Comey stem from his 2020 statement to the US Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not authorise the FBI to leak information about investigations into Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment alleges that Comey misled Congress by claiming he had not authorised anyone else to be an anonymous source in news reporting about an FBI investigation.
Comey headed the FBI from 2013 to 2017, until he was fired by Trump shortly into his first term in office.
Following Comey’s indictment on Thursday, Trump wrote a celebratory post on Truth Social. “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!” Trump wrote.
“One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” he wrote.
No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 25, 2025
News of Comey’s indictment was immediately criticised by Democrats, including Virginia Senator Mark Warner.
“A sad, sad day for our justice system. When a staunchly Republican US Attorney couldn’t even find a credible case against James Comey, Trump pushed him out and found someone who would,” Warner wrote on X.
“Trump will stop at nothing to punish political enemies.”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X, “It’s Comey today, but it could be anyone tomorrow.”
Trump demanded Comey be charged.
A veteran prosecutor resigned rather than bend the knee.
And then Trump hand-picked an aide who’d do it anyway.
Using the justice system to go after a political opponent is what dictators do.
It’s Comey today, but it could be anyone tomorrow.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 26, 2025
Lindsey Halligan, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said the charges against Comey “represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level”.
Halligan is a former White House aide who stepped in to head the office after lead prosecutor Erik Siebert resigned last week. She was the only prosecutor from the Eastern District of Virginia to sign the indictment against Comey in a highly unusual move for a prosecutor’s office, according to NBC News.
NBC News reported that her fellow prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia had previously written a memo explaining they could not find “probable cause” to indict Comey.
While Trump has a long list of high-profile critics he regularly blasts online and in public statements, the charges against Comey mark the first time that Trump has finally secured an indictment against one of them.
On Saturday, Trump urged US Attorney General Pam Bondi to level charges against Comey as well as California Senator Adam B Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James in a post on Truth Social.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote in the post.
Under Comey, the FBI investigated the 2016 Trump presidential campaign’s ties to Russia, while Clinton was investigated over her use of private email accounts while serving as secretary of state under President Barack Obama.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller later took over the investigation into the Trump campaign, including meetings between Russian and Trump campaign officials and Russian hacking of Clinton’s campaign emails.
The Mueller investigation concluded that “although the [Trump] Campaign expected it would benefit electorally” from the leaked emails, his inquiry could not “establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities”, according to a 2019 report to the Department of Justice.
Trump called the investigation a “witch-hunt” against him, and the findings have long been considered a thorn in his side.