RICHMOND, Va. β A federal grand jury has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
The indictment was secured by Lindsey Halligan, a former White House advisor with no prosecutorial experience who was recently sworn in to lead the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The charges stem from Comey's testimony during a September 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
According to the indictment, Comey allegedly lied to a senator when he denied authorizing an FBI employee to leak information to the media about an investigation, when he had in fact done so. A grand jury of 12 members opted to move forward with two of the three charges brought by Halligan.
It remains unclear what evidence the government has in the case beyond the hearing video.
Comey responded to the charges in a video posted to Instagram late Thursday, expressing his resolve despite the legal challenge.
"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," Comey said.
Legal experts from both sides of the political spectrum who have worked in or with the Eastern District of Virginia have raised concerns about the sequence of events leading to these indictments.
The timeline includes President Trump's social media posts urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to hire Halligan to head the office, suggesting Comey was guilty but nothing was being done, followed by US Attorney Eric Siebert being forced out.
One legal expert expressed concerns about the politicization of prosecutorial decisions.
"We shouldn't be prosecuting people because of their political alliances or because they have done something in the past. The point is I didn't like it at all when it was happening under Biden, and I don't like what is happening now. The President needs to go back to running the country and leave the DOJ to the DOJ and let them make those independent decisions for the sake of legitimacy of the process,β Tim Anderson, a defense attorney and former Republican delegate said.
Another legal expert, Gene Rossi, a Democrat who worked as a prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District for nearly 20 years, criticized Halligan's appointment.
"The person who has been appointed as US Attorney is really just to me a sycophant and a lackey for the President of the United States. That in itself is sad," Rossi said.
Comey is scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria on October 9.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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