Ex-FBI chief James Comey indicted as Trump targets his political opponents

James Comey, the former FBI director and one of Donald Trump’s most frequent targets, is expected to surrender to the authorities in the coming days after being indicted on Thursday evening on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

- Sam Levine Hugo Lowell Lauren Gambino

The indictment by a grand jury was the latest and most dramatic move yet in the US president’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries.

The indictment, filed in the federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, shows Comey’s charges centred on whether he lied and misled lawmakers during testimony in September 2020 about the Russia investigation.

While the precise details were not clear in the sparse, two-page indictment, it appeared to reference Comey’s testimony that he had never authorised someone at the FBI to leak to the news media about the Trump or Hillary Clinton investigations - a claim prosecutors alleged was false.

“No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, said on Thursday.

Comey said on Thursday night that he was innocent. He had been expected to turn himself in yesterday but by yesterday morning local time that appeared to become less likely.

The indictment followed Trump's instruction to Bondi to “move now” to prosecute Comey and other officials he considers political foes, trampling on the justice department’s tradition of independence.