U.S. indicts ex-FBI Director Comey

James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

- ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER AND MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

JAMES COMEY, shown in 2017, has been charged with lying to Congress and obstruction of justice.

(ANDREW HARNIK Associated Press)

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump's chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican's campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

Trump on Thursday hailed the indictment as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!” Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, and FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime vocal critic of the Russia investigation, issued similar statements. “No one is above the law,” Bondi said.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Bondi is being weaponized in pursuit of investigations and now prosecutions of public figures the president regards as his enemies.

It was filed as the White House has taken steps to exert influence in unprecedented ways on the operations of the Justice Department, blurring the line between law and politics for an agency where independence in prosecutorial decisionmaking is a foundational principle.