The former director of the FBI, James Comey, has been indicted for allegedly making false statements and for obstruction, according to court records made public Thursday night. The charges are related to Mr. Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020, during which he claimed he never authorized any FBI employees to leak to the press. 

Just days ago, President Trump demanded that several of his most high-profile political opponents — including Mr. Comey — be hit with charges “now.” The statute of limitations for charging Mr. Comey with lying to Congress is five years from September 30, 2020, which is this coming Tuesday. 

In the indictment, which was unsealed Thursday night, the Justice Department claimed that Mr. Comey did “willfully and knowingly make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the Government of the United States, by falsely stating to a U.S. Senator during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he … had not  authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports.’” 

In the second charge — obstruction of a congressional proceeding — the DOJ claims Mr. Comey “did corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which an investigation was being had before the Senate Judiciary Committee by making false and misleading statements before that committee.”

By law, the maximum penalty for the charges against Mr. Comey is five years in prison. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement on X about the case before the indictment was even unsealed. 

“Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Ms. Bondi wrote. “We will follow the facts in this case.”

The current FBI director, Kash Patel, who has long been a critic of Mr. Comey, said in a statement that the indictment of Mr. Comey was driven by law enforcement’s desire to pursue “previous corrupt leadership and their enablers.”

“Every day, we continue the fight to earn that trust back, and under my leadership, this FBI will confront the problem head-on,” Mr. Patel wrote. “Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose.”

Last week, Mr. Trump fired the standing U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, Erik Siebert, a son of a former Republican attorney general of the Commonwealth who was recommended for the post by GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin and the state’s two Democratic senators.

Mr. Trump has since appointed his former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, to serve as acting United States attorney. She began representing Mr. Trump in his criminal cases in 2022 after practicing insurance law in Florida. She had no prosecutorial experience before being named interim U.S. attorney on Monday. 

In a statement Thursday night, Senator Mark Warner — one of Virginia’s Democratic senators who backed Mr. Siebert for the prosecutor’s post — said Mr. Trump “has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics.”

“In [Mr. Siebert’s] place, Trump installed one of his personal lawyers, a political loyalist with zero experience prosecuting cases anywhere, to bring the charges that career professionals had already rejected,” Mr. Warner wrote. “This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power.”

Before Mr. Siebert stepped down, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social in what was essentially an open letter to Ms. Bondi that he wanted to see charges filed against a number of his political enemies. 

“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 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!!!”