Former FBI Director James Comey is expected to be arraigned in federal court today.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress and obstruction of a criminal proceeding related to his 2020 testimony about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The indictment alleges Comey lied when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports." The DOJ contends Comey had authorized a person to serve as an anonymous source regarding an FBI investigation, which he denies.
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He was indicted just days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute his perceived political enemies.
Comey has denied the charges and says he will fight them in court.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “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.”
The president and his allies have long decried the Russia investigation as a "hoax" and "witch hunt." However, multiple government reviews have shown Moscow did interfere in the 2016 election on behalf of the Trump campaign.
The indictment was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, which made headlines last week following the resignation of its chief prosecutor amid pressure from the Trump administration to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James in a months-long mortgage fraud case.
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