James Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to and obstructing US Congress, in the first court appearance by the former FBI director who oversaw a probe into alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia.
On Wednesday, Michael Nachmanoff, the judge presiding over the case in Virginia, set a trial date of January 5th.
The US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) case against Mr Comey marks a dramatic escalation of Mr Trump’s attack on his political enemies, raising fears among the US president’s critics that he is wielding the DoJ as a weapon of retribution.
The department has also launched investigations targeting Lisa Cook, a top Federal Reserve official, and Letitia James, the New York attorney-general who last year brought a civil fraud case against Mr Trump. The DoJ rejects the claims that it is being used to punish Mr Trump’s enemies.
RM Block
The charges came after the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in charge of the investigation against Mr Comey resigned – and days after Mr Trump picked Lindsey Halligan, his former personal lawyer, to replace him.
They followed a social media post in which Mr Trump last month urged his attorney-general, Pam Bondi, to prosecute Mr Comey and Ms James.
Ms Bondi on Tuesday declined to comment on Mr Comey’s case at an appearance before a congressional committee, but said he had been “indicted . . . [by] one of the most liberal grand juries in the country”.
Mr Trump appeared to suggest last month that more of his political foes could also be prosecuted, warning that while there was no list of who would be targeted, “there will be others”.
Mr Trump on Tuesday turned his attention to Jack Smith, the former special counsel who oversaw federal criminal cases targeting the US president during the Biden administration, including for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump
— James Comey
Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley this week shared a memo showing that federal investigators had acquired phone records of nine Republican lawmakers while probing Mr Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 polls.
“Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!” Trump wrote on social media.
FBI director Kash Patel earlier that day wrote on X that he “initiated an ongoing investigation” and fired staff in relation to the “baseless monitoring” of the Republican lawmakers.
Mr Smith’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Comey has claimed innocence in a video posted on social media. “My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. But we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way,” he said.
[ How James Comey moved to the top of Trump’s list of enemiesOpens in new window ]
The allegations stem from Mr Comey’s testimony before the Senate judiciary committee in 2020, when he was questioned by Republican Ted Cruz about whether he authorised anyone at the FBI to leak information to the press.
Mr Comey denied that he gave that authorisation. His statement conflicted with separate testimony by former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.
If convicted, Mr Comey faces up to five years in prison, although sentences for federal crimes are often shorter than the maximum.
Mr Trump fired Mr Comey as head of the FBI in 2017 as he was overseeing a probe into links between the Republican’s presidential campaign and Russia. The men have feuded publicly since then.
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
