Prosecution of James Comey

On September 25, 2025, James Comey, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on two counts: one charge of making a false statement to Congress, and one charge of obstructing a congressional proceeding. The charges are related to Comey's testimony during a September 30, 2020, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about the FBI's investigation of links between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and he was indicted just before the five-year statute of limitations ran out. He denies the charges and pleaded not guilty.

United States v. Comey
Court	United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Full case name	United States of America v. James B. Comey, Jr.
Docket nos.	1:25-cr-00272
Court membership
Judge sitting	Michael S. Nachmanoff
Keywords
False statements Obstruction of justice

Background

Former president Barack Obama nominated Comey to become the Director of the FBI in June of 2013,^[1] and he was sworn in on September 4.^[2] Among his responsibilities was overseeing an FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,^[3] a portion of which focused on possible coordination between Russia and members of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.^[4] Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017, and shortly after, Trump said he was motivated by the latter investigation.^[4]

Before he was fired, Comey had been writing notes to memorialize his one-on-one meetings with Trump, and after he was fired, he shared one of them with Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor and friend of Comey's. Richman shared that memo with The New York Times.^[4]

During a September 30, 2020, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into the FBI's investigation of links between Russia and the Trump campaign,^[5] in response to questioning from U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Comey denied having authorized anonymous leaks to The Wall Street Journal for an October 2016 article. In a December 2020 letter to the Department of Justice, Cruz wrote that former FBI official Andrew McCabe had said Comey was aware of McCabe's authorization of a leak, contradicting Comey's denials.^[6] Cruz's questioning of Comey in 2020 addressed both "the Clinton investigation" regarding her private email server, as well as "matters relating to the Trump investigation" about Russian interference.^[7]

The five-year statute of limitations would have expired on September 30, 2025.^[5] Erik Siebert, the interim U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, reportedly recommended against charging Comey, and Trump then pressured him into resigning. In a Truth Social post, Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to install loyalist Lindsey Halligan, his former personal attorney, in the role to push forward charges against adversaries, including Comey.^[6][8] Siebert resigned on September 19, 2025,^[9] and Halligan replaced him as interim U.S. Attorney on September 22.^[10]

Indictment

On September 25, 2025, Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on two counts: one charge of making a false statement to Congress, and one charge of obstructing a congressional proceeding. The 23-person grand jury voted against a third charge. Comey denies the charges.^{[11][12] [13]}

The indictment is not a speaking indictment that details the facts of the case; as CNN reports, "The indictment doesn't identify which specific leaked details or news reports form the core of the case." The indictment may refer to leaking that Comey (not McCabe) engaged in with Daniel Richman.^[14] Richman was also a "special government employee", and the government may argue that Comey's denial to Senator Cruz included denial of leaking with Richman (not just McCabe).^[15] CNN also reports that the indictment may involve the FBI's leak investigation called "Arctic Haze".^[14][16]

U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff has jurisdiction over the case.^[17] The lead prosecutor is U.S. Attorney Halligan, who represented the government before the grand jury and signed the indictment.^[18] Comey's defense counsel is Patrick Fitzgerald.^[19]

A lengthy report was issued by prosecutor John Durham in 2023 about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, and Durham's report concluded that "not every injustice or transgression amounts to a criminal offense, and criminal prosecutors are tasked exclusively with investigating and prosecuting violations of U.S. criminal laws." Lawyers from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. and prosecutors in Virginia "reached the same conclusion" as Durham, in the words of ABC News:^[20]

They'd be unable to prove Comey made false statements to Congress to obstruct their investigation. Presenting their findings in a lengthy declination memo, the prosecutors explicitly mentioned the two other investigations to bolster their recommendation that probable cause does not exist to charge Comey, according to sources familiar with the contents of the memo.

Based in part on discussions with Durham,^[20] those federal prosecutors working for U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan advised that charges should not be brought against Comey.^[6] She opted to bring three charges, and the grand jury agreed with two of them.

No arrest warrant was issued. On October 3, multiple sources said that FBI agent Chris Ray was suspended or relieved of duty after refusing to arrange a perp walk for Comey in front of media. ^[21][22] Comey was arraigned on October 8, pleaded not guilty, and was released until trial without conditions.^[23] The trial is scheduled for January 5, 2026; however, Comey's defense attorney is planning to submit at least two motions to dismiss, including arguments for selective or vindictive prosecution and for Halligan's appointment not having been lawful.^[24] On October 20, both motions for dismissal were filed with the federal courts.^[25][26][27]

Reactions

President Trump has commented publicly about the case, stating at Truth Social: "One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI", and also saying the case is about "justice not revenge."^[28]

“The apolitical prosecutors who analyzed this said there wasn’t a case," said former special counsel Jack Smith on October 8, 2025, "and so they brought somebody in who had never been a criminal prosecutor on day’s notice to secure an indictment a day before the statute of limitations ended. That just reeks of lack of process."^[29]