The Department of Justice is seeking to charge a former FBI director, James Comey, for allegedly lying to Congress nearly five years ago, according to a report from MSNBC. Investigators are seeking an indictment from the Eastern District of Virginia, where Mr. Comey lives, and where President Trump recently ousted his own top prosecutors because he felt law enforcement was not moving quickly enough to charge his political opponents with crimes. 

According to the report, the charges will hinge on Mr. Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020. At that hearing, Mr. Comey denied ever leaking information to reporters. The justice department is expected to accuse him of lying about that fact, according to MSNBC. 

The statute of limitations for the crime of lying to Congress is five years. The statute of limitations for Mr. Comey being charged for his September 30, 2020, testimony will lapse in just six days, which has reportedly led the justice department to seek to charge him before that date.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During his 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Comey explicitly stated that he never authorized anyone at the FBI to leak to members of the press, though his former deputy, Andy McCabe, had said previously that Mr. Comey was aware that he was giving information to the Wall Street Journal. 

“As you know, Mr. McCabe, who works for you, has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it,” Senator Ted Cruz stated at that 2020 hearing. “Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?”

Mr. Comey then hearkened back to testimony he had given in 2017, in which he said he never authorized anyone to leak to the press and that he himself had never been a source for reporters.  

“I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017,” Mr. Comey told Mr. Cruz at the 2020 hearing. 

“So your testimony is you’ve never authorized anyone to leak? And Mr. McCabe, if he says contrary, is not telling the truth, is that correct?” Mr. Cruz asked.

“I’m not going to characterize Andy’s testimony, but mine is the same today,” Mr. Comey responded. 

One of the MSNBC reporters who broke the news of the impending charges, Carol Leonig, said on “MSNBC Reports” on Wednesday that the justice department has been “eyeing ways to indict Comey” for “weeks.”

“They are arguing that … there is evidence to suggest Comey lied to Congress in his testimony on the Hill in September of 2020,” Ms. Leonig said. 

The likely impending charges follow Mr. Trump raging at justice department officials, including Attorney General Bondi, for not moving to charge his political opponents with a wide variety of crimes. 

Just last week, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert — who is the son of a former Republican attorney general of the Commonwealth, and was recommended for the post by Governor Glen Youngkin, a Republican, and the state’s two Democratic senators — resigned. 

Mr. Trump has since appointed his former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, to serve as interim United States attorney. She previously was charged with removing “woke” material from the Smithsonian ahead of America’s 250th anniversary next year. 

Before he stepped down, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social in what was essentially an open letter to Ms. Bondi that he wants to see charges filed against a host of perceived enemies and prominent critics. 

“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He specifically named Mr. Comey, Senator Adam Schiff, and the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, as individuals who ought to be thoroughly investigated and charged. 

“They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” Mr. Trump wrote. “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!!!”