Former FBI director and prominent President Donald Trump critic James Comey has been indicted on two counts, US media reported, as the US president escalated a campaign of legal retribution against political foes.
The charges – making false statements and obstruction of justice – came days after Mr Trump took the highly unusual step of publicly urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Mr Comey and others.
“No one is above the law,” Ms Bondi said on X shortly after news of the indictment broke but without naming Mr Comey.
“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,” she added.
In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi said ‘no one is above the law’
Mr Trump hailed the criminal indictment of Mr Comey, proclaiming “JUSTICE IN AMERICA!”
“One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“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 added.
In a statement, Mr Comey said he was innocent and that he had faith in the US judicial system.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I am innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith,” Mr Comey said in a video message posted to Instagram.
Mr Comey is expected to surrender this morning, a CNN reporter said on X.
The indictment of Mr Comey was brought by a federal prosecutor appointed by Mr Trump just days ago, Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to the president who has no experience as a prosecutor.
Ms Halligan was appointed to the high-profile post of US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia following the resignation last week of the previous US attorney, Erik Siebert.
Mr Siebert stepped down under pressure from Mr Trump after reportedly telling Justice Department leaders there was insufficient evidence to charge Mr Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James.
US President Donald Trump hailed the indictment of James Comey
Ms James, like several other Democratic officials, has been accused by a close Mr Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.
Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential vote.
In August, FBI agents raided the home and office of another Mr Trump critic – his former national security advisor John Bolton – in an investigation officials said was linked to classified documents.
Mr Bolton angered Mr Trump with the publication of a highly critical book, “The Room Where it Happened,” and appears frequently on television news shows and in print to condemn the man he has called “unfit to be president.”
Since taking office in January, Mr Trump, the first convicted felon to serve in the White House, has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents.
He has stripped former officials of their security clearances, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.
Mr Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House.
The FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of a probe into mishandling of classified documents and Mr Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Neither case came to trial, and Mr Smith – in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president – dropped them both after Mr Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.
