President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to call former FBI Director James Comey a “destroyer of lives” after he was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation, adding he must pay a “very big price.”
A grand jury issued the federal indictment on Thursday, charging Comey with one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice. The indictment is related to the official’s 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the bureau’s handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.
“Whether you like Corrupt James Comey or not, and I can’t imagine too many people liking him, HE LIED!” Trump wrote. “It is not a complex lie, it’s a very simple, but IMPORTANT one. There is no way he can explain his way out of it.”
Trump then called Comey a “Dirty Cop,” who “left himself ZERO margin of error on a big and important answer to a question” and was “unexpectedly caught” as a result.
“James ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey was a destroyer of lives,” the president said. “He knew exactly what he was saying, and that it was a very serious and far reaching lie for which a very big price must be paid!”
Comey is accused of lying to the committee under oath about not authorizing leaks of anonymous information to the media about the investigations into Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s alleged involvement in tying Trump to Russia.
A third count pertains to an alleged false statement made by Comey about whether he was aware of the “Clinton plan” to smear Trump as a Russian colluder. That charge did not make its way into the indictment after the grand jury could not agree on it.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has reportedly contradicted Comey’s testimony, which congressional investigators have long viewed as perjurious.
The charges came days after Trump pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his political opponents, including Comey.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump posted on Truth Social last Saturday. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Trump’s retribution against Comey and others appeared to be delayed because of Trump’s previous pick to lead the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, did not see eye to eye with the president on such cases. Siebert resigned, allowing Trump to appoint Lindsey Halligan as Siebert’s replacement.
Halligan was sworn into office as an interim U.S. attorney earlier this week before the indictment came down.
Comey has denied the charges, saying he’s “not afraid” of the Trump administration.
GRAND JURY INDICTS FORMER FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY
The former FBI director is slated to be arraigned on Oct. 9 at 10 a.m. in Alexandria, Virginia, where U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff will preside over the case. Nachmanoff, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, was assigned to the case on Thursday.
Trump acknowledged Comey is “off to a very good start” in the case because of the “Crooked Joe Biden appointed Judge.”
