Comey Indicted After Kash Patel Declassification

Former FBI director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding tied to his Sept. 30, 2020 testimony about the Russia investigation; each count carries up to five years in prison. The case is being led by Lindsey Halligan, the recently appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who took the role after Erik Siebert departed amid reported concerns about the sufficiency of the evidence, and the filing came days after President Trump publicly urged prosecutions of perceived enemies. Prosecutors cite documents declassified by Kash Patel (the so-called “Arctic Haze” files) and reporting that those materials purport to link Comey to an orchestrated leak campaign involving Columbia professor Daniel Richman. Comey denied wrongdoing in an Instagram video and said the indictment is politically motivated. President Trump praised the filing and Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the prosecution as proof that “no one is above the law.” Some career prosecutors and commentators have questioned the strength and timing of the case and warned it raises concerns about political pressure on the Justice Department.