ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in a federal court here Wednesday on charges brought after a public campaign by President Donald Trump to prosecute him.
Comey's attorney Patrick Fitzgerald waived a reading of the indictment and asked for a jury trial during the brief court appearance.
Last month, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted Comey, whom Trump fired during his first term in office, on two charges: making a false statement and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
Trump had posted just days earlier on his social media platform, calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge Comey. "We can't delay any longer," he wrote.
Comey, who was a registered Republican and served in the Justice Department during the George W. Bush administration, became the subject of Trump's ire after he helped spark special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The Trump administration accuses Comey of lying to Congress about having authorized a third party to speak anonymously to the media about an FBI investigation. Comey told Congress in 2017 he did not authorize any leaks related to an investigation, and he told the Senate again in 2020, “I stand by the testimony.”
Comey's daughter, a former federal prosecutor who was fired by the Justice Department in July, was seen at the court in support of her father.
Comey spoke only once during the hearing, walking to the microphone to say, “I do, your honor, thank you very much,” in response to whether he understood his rights — including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.
A trial date was set for Jan. 5, and both parties expect the trial to last two to three days. Comey’s team told the judge they will be filing two sets of motions: one challenging the charges as a vindictive and selective prosecution and a motion challenging the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, Trump's former personal attorney, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Fitzgerald called Halligan's appointment “unlawful.”
Fitzgerald said Comey's team also planned to file motions related to what he called “grand jury abuse” and “outrageous government conduct.”
The charges were filed after Trump successfully pressured the acting head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to resign. Trump then named Halligan to head the office, though she has no prosecutorial experience. Halligan presented the case against Comey to a grand jury by herself, which is highly unusual.
Halligan sought three charges, but 12 or more of the grand jurors found that there was not probable cause to indict him on one of the charges. Most of the grand jurors found there was probable cause to charge Comey with making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
In addition to Halligan, two prosecutors from a separate U.S. attorney's office in North Carolina — Nathaniel Lemons and Gabriel J. Diaz — were added to the case.
Trump has called for charges to be filed against other political foes since he began his second term, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
A group of former federal judges warned last week that the case presented a "grave danger" to the rights and liberties of every American as "President Donald Trump continues to corruptly abuse the power of his office by directing the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to target his critics and his perceived political enemies for investigation and criminal prosecution."
