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Ex-FBI Director Comey responds to indictment
Former FBI Director James Comey responded Thursday to being indicted in Virginia, saying he's innocent. In a social media video, he added there are "costs" to standing up to President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON - Former FBI Director James Comey was charged on Thursday for allegedly making a false statement and obstruction, according to multiple reports.
The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of President Donald Trump's biggest grievances: the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
FBI Director James B. Comey testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
The criminal case against Comey does not concern the substance of the Russia investigation. Rather, it accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee in his 2020 appearance when he said he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about the investigation.
RELATED: DOJ seeks to indict former FBI Director James Comey
The two-count indictment includes charges of making a false statement to Congress during testimony five years ago as well as obstruction of a criminal proceeding.
Comey's statement on indictment
Trump responds
What they're saying:
Investigation into Russia election interference
The backstory:
Comey was fired months into Trump’s first administration and has long been a top target for Trump supporters seeking retribution.
Trump has for years railed against both a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and the criminal investigation that tried to determine whether his campaign had conspired with Moscow to sway the outcome of that race.
Prosecutors led by special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, but they did find that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.
Comey was singled out by name in a Saturday social media post in which Trump complained directly to Bondi that she had not yet brought charges against him.
The office that filed the case, the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown into turmoil last week following the resignation of chief prosecutor Erik Siebert under pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.
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Former FBI Director James Comey indicted
Former FBI Director James Comey was charged on Thursday for allegedly making a false statement and obstruction, according to multiple reports. It's the first indictment in connection with the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Comey's daughter fired
Dig deeper:
Earlier this year, the department fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She has since sued, saying the termination was carried out without any explanation and was done for political reasons.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press, reporting by Axios and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported fro San Jose.