Former FBI Director Comey indicted on charges of making a false statement, obstruction

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with making a false statement and obstruction in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute him 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 has for years derided that investigation as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican's campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, is being weaponised as it pursues investigations of public figures the president regards as his adversaries.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York has sharply criticised the Trump administration over Comey's indictment.

"The indictment of James Comey is a disgraceful attack on the rule of law," Jeffries said late Thursday.

"Donald Trump and his sycophants in the Department of Justice are completely and totally out of control, and have viciously weaponised the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries."

The sparse two-count indictment — consisting of charges of making a false statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obstructing a congressional proceeding — appears to have nothing to do with the substance of the Russia investigation.

Instead, it accuses Comey of having lied to the committee when asked whether he had authorised anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source of information related to investigations into either Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton. Though the indictment does not specify the subject Comey is alleged to have lied about, it appears through context to have to do with Clinton.

Comey says in a video that he is innocent as he says "let's have a trial and keep the faith."

The former FBI director said in a video posted to Substack that he was not afraid and that he knew there would be "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 am innocent," Comey said.

James Comey's son-in-law resigned as a federal prosecutor minutes after the former FBI director was indicted Thursday.

Troy Edwards quit his job "to uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country," he wrote in a one-sentence resignation letter addressed to Lindsey Halligan, the newly appointed US Attorney in Virginia's Eastern District, the office that charged Comey.

Edwards was the the deputy chief of the National Security Section, a prestigious role in a US attorney's office that covers the Pentagon and CIA headquarters, handling some of the highest-profile espionage cases.

"Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics," said Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Warner said after the forced ouster of the US attorney in his state, the Trump administration installed a loyalist to bring the charges that others had rejected.

"This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power," Warner said. "Our system depends on prosecutors making decisions based on evidence and the law, not on the personal grudges of a politician determined to settle scores."

-AP

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