Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by the Justice Division on Thursday. He has been charged with one rely of creating false statements and one rely of obstruction of justice, associated to Senate testimony he gave virtually 5 years in the past.
In a video posted to Instagram following the indictment announcement, Comey asserted his innocence.
Comey, who was fired by President Trump in 2017, begins his video by saying he and his household “have identified for years that there are prices to standing as much as Donald Trump, however we could not think about ourselves residing another manner.”
“We won’t reside on our knees, and also you should not both,” he says.
“Any person that I really like dearly not too long ago stated that concern is the instrument of a tyrant, and she or he’s proper, however I am not afraid, and I hope you are not both,” Comey continues, showing to reference his daughter, Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor in New York who helped prosecute Sean “Diddy” Combs and beforehand labored on the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Maurene Comey was fired by the Justice Division in July and stated in a word to colleagues confirming her departure: “Worry is the instrument of a tyrant, wielded to suppress unbiased thought.”
James Comey says within the video Thursday night time, “I hope as an alternative you’re engaged, you’re paying consideration, and you’ll vote like the one that you love nation relies upon upon it, which it does.”
“My coronary heart is damaged for the Division of Justice, however I’ve nice confidence within the federal judicial system, and I am harmless. So let’s have a trial and preserve the religion,” he provides.
In a Fact Social submit on Thursday night time, President Trump celebrated the previous FBI director’s indictment, calling Comey “one of many worst human beings this Nation has ever been uncovered to.”
James Comey’s legal professional, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, stated in an announcement: “Jim Comey denies the costs filed at present of their entirety. We sit up for vindicating him within the courtroom.”
A majority of grand jurors didn’t approve indicting James Comey on a further rely of mendacity to Congress, in line with court docket papers — an uncommon improvement since grand juries hardly ever reject costs.
The indictment was returned within the Japanese District of Virginia, simply days earlier than the five-year statute of limitations for costs arising out of his September 2020 testimony to Congress was set to run out on Tuesday.
Jacob Rosen and
contributed to this report.
