(BBC News) Former FBI Director James Comey has maintained he is innocent after being charged with making false statements to Congress.
President Donald Trump welcomed the indictment against a high-profile figure who has long drawn his ire. Comey is accused of lying to a Senate committee in 2020 about whether he authorized a leak of classified information to the media.
The indictment in Virginia comes days after Trump called on the country’s top law enforcement official to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries, including Comey.
Comey said he had “great confidence in the federal judicial system.” If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison.
An indictment in the US justice system is a formal accusation issued by a grand jury after they review evidence to determine if a case should proceed.
Comey’s arraignment – where charges are formally read out in front of a defendant in court – has been set for October 9 in Alexandria, Virginia.
The probe is being led by Lindsey Halligan, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was previously Trump’s personal lawyer and took over her new role on Monday.
