Former FBI director James Comey was indicted by a grand jury Sept. 25 for lying to Congress about his organizing of leaks to the media. This occurred in May 2017, when Comey was attempting to stir up charges against U.S. President Donald Trump and instigate the appointment of a special prosecutor. His effort succeeded and it played a major role in extending the Russiagate operation throughout Trump’s first term.
During a brief hearing yesterday, the court announced that 14 grand jurors had agreed to indict Comey on both the counts of false statements and of obstruction in the jurisdiction of a congressional proceeding. The court record indicates he is to be arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on October 9. He could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
On May 3, 2017, Comey had explicitly denied to Sen. Charles Grassley that he had arranged for an underling at the FBI to be an anonymous source to provide leaks to the media. However, his role was not discovered for several years, and the Biden administration chose not to charge him within the five-year statute of limitations. Hence, he is being charged just before that five-year clock expires on his Sept 30, 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he confirmed what he had said in 2017.
In 2020, Sen. Ted Cruz interrogated Comey: “On May 3rd, 2017, in this committee, Chairman Grassley asked you point blank, ‘Have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation?’ You responded under oath, ‘Never.’ He then asked you, ‘Have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton administration?’ You responded again under oath, ‘No.’”
Comey’s reply to Cruz was: “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.” The present indictment states that Comey testified
that “he had not authorized someone else to be an anonymous source in news reports. That statement was false.” Comey responded yesterday that he is innocent and expects that to be the result of his trial. It is thought that Comey may try to wriggle out by the technical claim that, while he might have been lying in 2017, he was telling the truth in 2020—namely, that he indeed was standing by the summarized testimony (not that he was saying it was truthful).
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X on Sept. 25: “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. We will follow the facts in this case.”
Otherwise, shortly after the announcement of the indictment, Comey’s son-in-law, Troy A. Edwards, Jr., resigned from his position as a senior national security prosecutor. His resignation letter said no more than: “To uphold my oath to the Constitution and country, I hereby resign as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the Department of Justice effective immediately.”
