ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday (Oct 8) to criminal charges accusing him of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation, US media reported, in the first prosecution by the Justice Department against one of President Donald Trump’s political enemies.
The charges were brought by Trump’s former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, who was installed last month as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after Trump forced out her predecessor over his reticence to prosecute Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Comey, who appeared at an Alexandria, Virginia, court, is accused of knowingly making a false statement when he told a Republican senator during a hearing in 2020 that he stood behind prior testimony that he did not authorise anyone to serve as an anonymous source in news reports about FBI investigations.
The indictment accuses Comey of authorising an FBI employee to disclose information about a federal probe. The indictment does not identify the investigation, but it appears to relate to Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival in the 2016 election. It does not detail the evidence against Comey.
Comey has professed his innocence and called for a trial.
TRUMP PURSUING POLITICAL RIVALS
Trump has threatened to imprison his political rivals since the start of his 2016 presidential campaign, but the case against Comey marks the first time his administration has succeeded in securing a grand jury indictment against one of them.
Trump’s Justice Department is also investigating other antagonists, including James, Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff, and John Bolton, who served as a national security official in Trump’s first term as president.
Hours before the hearing, Trump called for jailing Chicago’s mayor and Illinois’ governor, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy National Guard troops during stepped-up immigration enforcement in the city.
Just one in four Americans in a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday agreed with the statement that the Justice Department does its job fairly and without political interference.
