(Alexandria) Former FBI Director James Comey, one of Donald Trump’s pet peeves, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in a case emblematic of the increasingly aggressive legal campaign waged by the American president against his political adversaries.
Indicted in September for obstructing a parliamentary inquiry and making false statements to Congress, he appeared around 10 a.m. (Eastern time) in federal court in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington.
On his behalf, his lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. A trial has been set for January 5.
Some demonstrators stood in front of the court, brandishing signs reading “repression of the opposition”, “fabricated accusations” and “show trial”.
The former federal police chief was brutally fired by Donald Trump in 2017, during the Republican’s first term, while the FBI was investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. He has since been one of the targets of the president’s vindictiveness.
In September, Donald Trump publicly pressured his Justice Secretary, Pam Bondi, expressing surprise on his Truth Social platform that James Comey had still not been indicted.
He then pushed the attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to resign, implicitly reproaching him for his lack of zeal on this matter, and quickly replaced him in this strategic position with Lindsey Halligan, a White House advisor.
The latter initiated the proceedings which led to the indictment on September 25 of James Comey, 64, in connection with his oral testimony in the Senate in September 2020.
He is specifically accused of having denied, in response to a question from a senator, having authorized his deputy to be quoted anonymously in the media on sensitive investigations conducted by the FBI.
“I am innocent”
“JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” », Donald Trump congratulated himself on Truth Social after the announcement of the indictment of James Comey, described as “one of the worst human beings this country has known”.
The Republican billionaire did not hide his desire for revenge against his opponents during the last presidential campaign.
Since his return to power in January, American authorities have opened several investigations against figures considered hostile.
The day after the indictment of James Comey, the president launched a new appeal to the Department of Justice to pursue those he perceives as his enemies, believing that “there would be others”.
In his sights are notably the former director of the CIA John Brennan, who had notably denounced a “collusion” between the president’s entourage and Russia, or the Attorney General of the State of New York Letitia James, who had him fined almost half a billion dollars before his return to the White House in a fraud case.
“I’m not afraid,” James Comey reacted after his indictment.
“My family and I have known for years what it costs to oppose Donald Trump,” he assured, calling for people not to live “on their knees” in front of the president.
“I have confidence in federal justice and I am innocent,” he concluded.
After the ouster of James Comey, the investigation into Russian interference was entrusted to special prosecutor Robert Mueller, his predecessor at the head of the FBI.
In his report in 2019, Mr. Mueller concluded that there was insufficient evidence of collusion between Moscow and Donald Trump’s team, but noted a series of troubling pressures exerted by the president on his investigation.
