Former FBI director James Comey, one of US President Donald Trump’s most frequent targets, was expected to surrender to the authorities yesterday after being indicted on one count of making a false statement to the US Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
The indictment by a grand jury on Thursday evening was the latest and most dramatic move yet in the president’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries.
The indictment, filed in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, shows Comey’s charges centered on whether he lied and misled lawmakers during testimony in September 2020 about whether people associated with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had coordinated with the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the US election.
Photo: AP
While the precise details were not clear in the sparse, two-page indictment, it appeared to reference Comey’s testimony that he had never authorized someone at the FBI to leak to the news media about FBI investigations into Trump and former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton — a claim prosecutors alleged was false.
“No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this [US] Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Thursday.
The indictment followed Trump’s instruction to Bondi to “move now” to prosecute Comey and other officials he considers political foes in a social media post trampling on the justice department’s tradition of independence.
It also came less than a week after Lindsey Halligan was installed as the top federal prosecutor in the eastern district of Virginia, after Trump fired her predecessor, Erik Siebert, after he declined to bring charges against Comey over concerns there was insufficient evidence.
Halligan, most recently a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who has no prosecutorial experience, was also presented with a memo earlier this week laying out why charges should not be brought, but the justice department still pushed it through, people familiar with the matter said.
‘KEEP THE FAITH’
Responding to the indictment, hours after it was filed, Comey said in a video statement posted on Instagram that he was innocent and welcomed a trial.
“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” Comey said.
Referencing the farewell e-mail his daughter, Maureen, sent after she was fired from her job as a federal prosecutor in New York, Comey said: “Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she’s right, but I’m not afraid, and I hope you’re not either.”
“I hope instead you are engaged. You are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial, and keep the faith,” he said.
‘DIRTY COP’
Prosecutors had also sought a third charge against Comey, but grand jurors rejected the request, court documents show.
At the White House, Trump celebrated the charges in a post on Truth Social, writing: “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI.”
Yesterday morning, the US president called Comey a “dirty cop” in a series of fresh comments on Truth Social.
“He is a Dirty Cop, and always has been,” Trump wrote. “He just got unexpectedly caught” and “a very big price must be paid.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
SAFETY FIRST: The US transportation secretary said that there is no room for politics when it comes to safety and security of the global aviation system Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday expressed his sincere thanks to US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy for calling for Taiwan’s inclusion in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) technical work regardless of politics. The ministry relayed Lin’s thanks in a statement issued after Duffy’s remarks on the first day of the ICAO’s triennial general assembly in Montreal on Tuesday. Duffy said that for the sake of global safety, countries that threaten aviation security should be excluded from the ICAO leadership, while all stakeholders, including Taiwan, must be included in its technical work regardless of politics. “There is no room for
MATAIAN RIVER: Rescue operations were ongoing, with officials urging residents to move to higher floors where possible as teams focus first on those at ground level Floodwaters from the overflowing Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) yesterday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people trapped and three missing as of press time last night, the Hualien County Fire Bureau said. The waters surged into downtown Guangfu after the riverbank burst at about 2:50pm, carrying mud and debris and submerging streets to rooftop level in some areas. Residents were seen climbing onto vehicles and rooftops to await rescue as thick, silt-laden water inundated the town. The surge destroyed the Mataian Bridge (馬太鞍溪橋) and flooded the Guangfu Railway Station. Rescue operations were launched with support from fire departments
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
CONCERNS: The Premier said authorities should find out why evacuation orders were not carried out, and ordered agencies to stay in Hualien to help with relief At least 14 people have been confirmed dead after floodwaters from the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake burst into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) on Tuesday, government officials said yesterday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded Taiwan with torrential rain. The lake in eastern Hualien — formed by a series of landslides that created a natural dam wall — burst, washing away a bridge and sweeping into Guangfu with a trail of thick sludge and mud. “It was like a volcano erupting... The muddy floodwaters came roaring straight into the first floor of my house,” said Hsu Cheng-hsiung, 55, a neighborhood leader of
RSS