The sun illuminates the Albert V. Bryan United States Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sept. 26, 2025, the morning following indictment charges filed against former FBI Director James Comey. His initial court date is scheduled there Oct. 9. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
Former FBI Director James Comey proclaimed his innocence of federal obstruction charges and characterized the indictment against him as a consequence of “standing up to Donald Trump” in a video posted to social media, while current Director Kash Patel sought to allay concerns the prosecution was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, Trump in remarks to reporters on Friday morning continued to slam Comey and call for other enemies to be prosecuted as well.
Comey in the video urged a trial to prove he is innocent. “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,” Comey said in the late Thursday video posted to Instagram. “I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”
Comey, whom a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted on two charges Thursday, said he and his family “have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way.”
In a Sept. 20 social media post, Trump had publicly pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue charges against Comey — with whom he has long feuded — and other political opponents.
In the same post, Trump referenced the prosecutions against him to justify an investigation into his opponents. He also withdrew the nomination of a federal prosecutor in Virginia who reportedly resisted instructions to prosecute Comey and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer who had worked for Trump in his personal capacity.
Trump celebrated the indictment in a Thursday evening post.
“JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote. “One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI.”
Asked by a reporter Friday morning if others would face retribution, Trump said he hoped so.
“They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history,” he said. “What they’ve done is terrible. And so I would, frankly, I hope there are others, because you can’t let this happen to a country.”
Trump motives questioned
Trump’s moves led Democrats and other Trump critics to describe Comey’s prosecution as an act of retribution meant to punish the president’s opponents, violating a longstanding norm separating the president from direct involvement in Justice Department activity.
In an early Friday post to X, Patel sought to counter that narrative, saying professionals handled the investigation.
“Career FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others,” he wrote. “They called the balls and strikes and will continue to do so. The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate- it’s hypocrisy on steroids. Their baseless objections tell us now, more than ever, that we are precisely over the target and will remain on mission until completion.”
Comey’s initial court date is scheduled for Oct. 9 in Alexandria, Virginia, in front of U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, who was appointed by President Joe Biden.
His summons were served to Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime federal prosecutor who is leading Comey’s defense.
The grand jury charged Comey with lying to Congress and obstructing a proceeding of Congress related to his testimony to a Senate committee about whether he authorized FBI agents to leak information about a probe into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
Democrats blast indictment
In a lengthy statement Thursday, Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, called the indictment “blatantly fraudulent and vindictive.”
“The rule of law was supposed to replace vendettas, blood feuds, and mad kings exacting vengeance on their perceived enemies,” Raskin wrote. “This sordid episode is one more savage assault on justice in America.”
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois called on Republicans to oppose Trump’s involvement with the Justice Department.
“The Department of Justice has become a political tool of a vengeful President,” Durbin said in a Friday morning statement. “President Trump wears his corruption like a badge of honor and defies anyone daring to challenge him. The Attorney General willingly complies with every order from the White House. Is there one Republican left in Washington who gives a damn?”
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