The sun illuminates the Albert V. Bryan United States Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sept. 26, 2025, the morning following indictment charges filed against former FBI Director James Comey. His initial court date is scheduled there Oct. 9. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)

Former FBI Director James Comey proclaimed his innocence of federal obstruction charges and characterized the indictment against him as a consequence of “standing up to Donald Trump” in a video posted to social media, while current Director Kash Patel sought to allay concerns the prosecution was politically motivated.

Meanwhile, Trump in remarks to reporters on Friday morning continued to slam Comey and call for other enemies to be prosecuted as well.

Comey in the video urged a trial to prove he is innocent. “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,” Comey said in the late Thursday video posted to Instagram. “I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”

Comey, whom a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted on two charges Thursday, said he and his family “have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way.” 

In a Sept. 20 social media post, Trump had publicly pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue charges against Comey — with whom he has long feuded — and other political opponents. 

In the same post, Trump referenced the prosecutions against him to justify an investigation into his opponents. He also withdrew the nomination of a federal prosecutor in Virginia who reportedly resisted instructions to prosecute Comey and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer who had worked for Trump in his personal capacity. 

Trump celebrated the indictment in a Thursday evening post.

“JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote. “One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI.”

Asked by a reporter Friday morning if others would face retribution, Trump said he hoped so.

“They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history,” he said. “What they’ve done is terrible. And so I would, frankly, I hope there are others, because you can’t let this happen to a country.”

Trump motives questioned

Trump’s moves led Democrats and other Trump critics to describe Comey’s prosecution as an act of retribution meant to punish the president’s opponents, violating a longstanding norm separating the president from direct involvement in Justice Department activity.

In an early Friday post to X, Patel sought to counter that narrative, saying professionals handled the investigation.

“Career FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others,” he wrote. “They called the balls and strikes and will continue to do so. The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate- it’s hypocrisy on steroids. Their baseless objections tell us now, more than ever, that we are precisely over the target and will remain on mission until completion.”

Comey’s initial court date is scheduled for Oct. 9 in Alexandria, Virginia, in front of U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. 

His summons were served to Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime federal prosecutor who is leading Comey’s defense.

The grand jury charged Comey with lying to Congress and obstructing a proceeding of Congress related to his testimony to a Senate committee about whether he authorized FBI agents to leak information about a probe into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.

Democrats blast indictment

In a lengthy statement Thursday, Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, called the indictment “blatantly fraudulent and vindictive.”

“The rule of law was supposed to replace vendettas, blood feuds, and mad kings exacting vengeance on their perceived enemies,” Raskin wrote. “This sordid episode is one more savage assault on justice in America.”

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois called on Republicans to oppose Trump’s involvement with the Justice Department.

“The Department of Justice has become a political tool of a vengeful President,” Durbin said in a Friday morning statement. “President Trump wears his corruption like a badge of honor and defies anyone daring to challenge him. The Attorney General willingly complies with every order from the White House. Is there one Republican left in Washington who gives a damn?”

Author James Comey, former FBI director, speaks at the Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025 in New York City.  (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Thursday on two federal charges, after President Donald Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey, a Trump critic who led an investigation into the president’s first election victory.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted Comey on one charge of making false statements to Congress and another of obstructing a proceeding of Congress. Prosecutors had sought an additional charge of making false statements, but the grand jury returned only one.

“No one is above the law,” Bondi wrote on social media Thursday. “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.”

FBI Director Kash Patel on social media referenced the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won. Comey was FBI director at the outset of that investigation.

“Today, your FBI took another step in its promise of full accountability,” Patel wrote. “For far too long, previous corrupt leadership and their enablers weaponized federal law enforcement, damaging once proud institutions and severely eroding public trust. …Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose.”

‘We can’t delay any longer’

The Senate confirmed Comey, 93-1, in 2013. He oversaw the agency’s probe of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election. Trump fired him after pressuring him to end the investigation and failing. 

Trump and Comey have publicly sparred since his dismissal. Comey has denied wrongdoing.

Over the weekend, Trump posted on social media urging Bondi to take action against Comey and other political enemies, demanding retribution for his own prosecutions.

“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done,’” Trump wrote. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”

Trump was impeached twice during his first term and was indicted in four criminal proceedings following his first term.

On Monday, Lindsey Halligan was sworn in as the new interim top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, where the Comey indictments were returned. Halligan, who was endorsed by Trump for the post, has represented Trump as his personal lawyer.

Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said Halligan’s appointment — after the firing of Erik Siebert, the permanent U.S. attorney in the district, who declined to pursue charges against Comey — showed the prosecution was political.

“I’ve had my differences with James Comey in the past, but I can spot trumped-up charges a mile away,” Kaine wrote in a statement. “Trump said he’d go after him, then fired a superb, ethical prosecutor when he refused to bring frivolous charges against those whom Trump perceived to be his enemies.”