The Justice Department is weighing whether to charge former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress, two DOJ officials and a person familiar with the matter told NBC News Wednesday.
“There are still internal matters being sorted out,” one of the officials said.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on any matters relating to Comey.
The internal debate comes just days after President Donald Trump posted on social media that Attorney General Pam Bondi should take action against Comey and two of the president's other political foes: Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"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!!!" he said in the Truth Social post on Saturday.
He told reporters later that day: “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty, or if they should be judged, they should be judged. And we have to do it now.”
Any charges against Comey could come from the Eastern District of Virginia, where deliberations over how to handle the Comey case are active, the second Justice Department official told NBC News.
The charge in question would involve testimony Comey delivered to Congress on Sept. 30, 2020, in response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about the authorization of an information leak. Comey was asked whether he stood by earlier testimony from 2017 denying that he'd authorized the leak, and he responded, "I stand by the testimony."
If the Justice Department decides to charge Comey, it could happen in the coming days. A five-year statute of limitations is set to expire early next week.
A representative for Comey declined to comment Wednesday.
Trump's call for action from the DOJ came a day after he forced out Erik S. Siebert as acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Senior Justice Department sources recently said that Siebert had decided to resign rather than seek an indictment of Comey due to the lack of evidence in the case.
Trump later posted on X that he had fired Siebert, rather than him resigning. He was replaced Monday by Lindsey Halligan, one of Trump's former personal lawyers.
The Justice Department acknowledged in July that it was investigating Comey, but did not release any information about the probe.
Trump has long been critical of Comey, who started an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. Trump fired Comey in May 2017, a move that led to former FBI Director Robert Mueller being named special counsel of the Russia investigation.
Mueller's probe spanned almost two years and led to 34 people and three companies being criminally charged. His report found that the Russian government “interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,” but said investigators did not establish that Trump or his team “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” despite numerous contacts.
Trump has long derided the investigation as a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."
Siebert had also been investigating mortgage fraud allegations against James, whose office successfully sued Trump and his company for fraud.
Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News last week that the investigation stalled over concerns from federal agents and prosecutors who felt they lacked the evidence to obtain a conviction if the case were to go to trial.
James has denied any wrongdoing.
