James Comey indicted: Ex-FBI chief charged in stunning Trump probe twist

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, who is known to be a frequent target of US President Donald Trump, was indicted on Thursday after being accused of making a false statement to the US Congress. Comey’s indictment is seen as the Trump administration’s latest move in an expansive retribution campaign against Trump’s political adversaries.

“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,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday after Comey’s indictment was announced. “Today, your FBI took another step in its promise of full accountability,” Kash Patel, the FBI director, said in a separate statement.

The indictment came shortly after Trump instructed Bondi to prosecute Comey and other officials, whom he considered “political foes”. The charges against the former FBI director came less than a week after Lindsey Halligan was installed as the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, following Trump’s firing of her predecessor, Erik Siebert. The former federal prosecutor was fired after he declined to bring charges against Comey, citing concerns that there was insufficient evidence.

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Meanwhile, Halligan, most recently a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who has no prosecutorial experience, was also presented with a memo earlier this week laying out why charges against the former FBI should not be brought. However, the Justice Department still pushed it through, The Guardian reported.

With the indictment against Comey in place, the Justice Department said that the former FBI director was charged with obstructing “a congressional investigation into the disclosure of sensitive information” and making a false statement to the FBI when he said he did not authorise someone at the agency to be an anonymous source.

Meanwhile, Trump rejoiced in Comey’s indictment and included him in the list of his political opponents facing persecution. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump posted. They impeached me twice and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Interestingly, the American leader’s contempt for Comey goes back to the early days of his first term, when, according to Comey, Trump sought to secure a pledge of loyalty from the then-FBI director, who refused.

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At that time, Comey was also leading the criminal investigation into allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 US elections. Trump eventually dismissed Comey back in May 2017. Earlier this year, the former FBI director was investigated by the Secret Service after he shared and then deleted a cryptic social media post of seashells in the formation of “ 8647”. Trump allies alleged that the number was an incitement of violence against the president.

Comey soon rejected the allegations and said he opposed violence of any kind. He maintained that he was unaware that “86” had a violent connotation.