(Washington) Former FBI Director James Comey, one of US President Donald Trump’s pet peeves, appears Wednesday for his formal indictment for obstructing a parliamentary inquiry and making false statements to Congress.
He is due to appear Wednesday from 10 a.m. (Eastern time) in federal court in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington.
The former federal police chief was brutally fired by Donald Trump in 2017, during his first term, while the FBI was investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. He has since been one of the targets of the Republican’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.
“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 person concerned quickly replied: “I am not afraid”. “Fear is the weapon of tyrants,” James Comey added on Instagram.
“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.
