To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Former FBI director James Comey has been indicted on two charges after being accused of lying to Congress.
Mr Comey has been formally charged by a federal grand jury in Virginia in relation to a testimony he gave in September 2020 over whether he gave authorisation to leak classified information to the media.
Responding to the decision, Mr Comey has maintained his innocence,insisting he has not lied under oath and has ‘great confidence’ in the judicial system.
The case marks the first time a former FBI chief has been indicted for a crime.
Mr Comey’s charges will be read out during an arraignment in Alexandria, Virginia on October 9 at 10am local time.
It comes as Donald Trump has piled pressure on his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to more aggressively pursue his political opponents.
Bondi said in a statement that Mr Comey’s charges reflect her department’s commitment to hold those who ‘abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people’.
What did James Comey do?
Mr Comey, who served as FBI director between 2013 and 2017, has been charged on one count of obstruction of justice and another of making false statements to Congress, the BBC reported.
He is accused of misleading the house when he denied he had ‘authorised someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports’ in relation to an investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In 2017, a series of leaked memos showed conversations between Mr Comey and Trump, including a message from the president asking him to drop an investigation into the then national security adviser Michael Flynn and his contact with Russia.
The former FBI chief was further accused of trying to ‘influence, obstruct and impede’ an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee by providing false statements.
The grand jury also considered a third count, another charge of making false statements, but concluded there was not enough evidence to take further.
What is an indictment?
In the US, an indictment is the bringing of a formal charge or accusation by a grand jury.
A grand jury is a panel of citizens which determines whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a case to trial.
It serves as the next step in the judicial process, signifying that a case can go to trial where the accused person is determined either guilty or innocent.
Mr Comey’s case is the first such trial against an ex-FBI director.
The charges against Mr Comey were filed just days before a five-year time limit would have lapsed on Tuesday.
Following the decision, Trump lambasted Mr Comey as ‘one of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to’.
‘He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation’, he wrote on Truth Social.
Mr Comey served as FBI director up to 2017, when he was fired by Trump following the Russian interference investigation.
He was also investigated earlier this year by the secret service into a social media post he shared and then deleted of seashells spelling the numbers ‘8647’.
The number ’86’ is slang for ‘reject’ or ‘get rid off’, with Republicans arguing that the ’47’ represented Trump as the 47th US president.
Mr Comey’s daughter Maurene is suing the Trump administration after being dismissed from her post of federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District without any official reason.
She has served in the position for 10 years.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.