'Let's have a trial': former FBI director pleads not guilty to lying to Congress

The former FBI director James Comey pleaded not guilty yesterday in connection with federal charges that he lied to Congress in 2020.

- Sam Levine

Comey entered the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, shortly before 10am through a private entrance. He was joined by his legal team, his wife and his daughter, Maurene, who was fired as a federal prosecutor in the southern district of New York in July.

Asked whether he understood the charges against him, Comey said: “I do your honour. Thank you very much.” A trial in the case was tentatively set for 5 January 2026, according to the Associated Press.

Comey was to be booked and fingerprinted, which is normal practice for defendants, before being arraigned and formally read the charges against him by US district judge Michael Nachmanoff. Nachmanoff was appointed to the federal bench by Joe Biden in 2021.

Patrick Fitzgerald, a former US attorney for the northern district of Illinois, who is representing Comey, told Nachmanoff that Comey's legal team planned to file a motion to dismiss the case and to argue that he was the subject of a malicious and selective prosecution.