Former FBI Director James Comey testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on June 8, 2017. Yonhap News. 

Major U.S. media outlets reported on the 25th (local time) that former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, 64, has been indicted, a directive issued by U.S. President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice.

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided to indict on two of the three charges presented by federal prosecutors on this day.

The charges stated in the indictment released by the prosecution are making false statements to Congress and obstruction of congressional proceedings.

The federal Department of Justice stated that conviction could result in a maximum of five years in prison.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, who pursued the indictment, argued that Comey committed perjury while testifying about the FBI's mistakes during the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020.

"Crossfire Hurricane" was the name given to the investigation into the alleged "Russia Gate" in which Russia was accused of interfering to help Donald Trump win the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

This investigation examined suspicions of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016 but was not substantiated.

According to Bloomberg News, the indictment also states that Comey authorized an individual to leak information about another person to journalists. However, the names of these individuals are not specified.

The reason the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia handled this case is because Comey testified remotely from his home in McLean, Virginia, on September 30, 2020, during his Senate testimony.

 The federal grand jury indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, dated September 25, 2025. Yonhap News. 

The indictment was made five days before the statute of limitations expired.

Now that a formal indictment has been issued, an arraignment will take place where the defendant will appear in court, hear the charges in the indictment, and enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

While the date for the arraignment was not immediately confirmed, there are reports that it is expected to take place on the morning of the 26th, and Comey is anticipated to respond to the summons.

Immediately after the indictment was announced, Comey asserted his innocence, stating that he was paying a "price" for standing up to Trump.

In a video message posted on Instagram, he said, "My family and I have known for years that there would be a price to pay for standing up to Donald Trump, but we could not imagine living any other way. I am not afraid, and I hope you are not either."

He added, "My heart aches for the Department of Justice, but I have faith in the federal justice system and I am innocent, so let's have a trial and have faith."

Troy Edwards, the son-in-law of former FBI Director Comey and a deputy section chief in the national security division at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, was in the front row of the courtroom during the grand jury proceedings and submitted his resignation a few minutes after the indictment announcement.

In a one-sentence resignation letter submitted to Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, Edwards stated that he was immediately resigning from his position as a prosecutor "to uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country."

Resignation letter of federal prosecutor Troy Edwards. Yonhap News. 

President Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social shortly after the announcement of Comey's indictment, stating, "He has done truly bad things to our country for a very long time, and now the process of holding him accountable for crimes against the nation has begun."

Acting Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that "no one is above the law" and that the indictment of former FBI Director Comey is justified.

Former FBI Director Comey was appointed FBI Director in September 2013 during the Obama administration but was dismissed in May 2017, early in Trump's first term, without completing his 10-year tenure.

He was dismissed while leading the investigation into allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump win, and he has been a strong critic of Trump.

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies remotely at a Senate hearing from his home in McLean, Virginia, on September 30, 2020. Yonhap News. 

Maureen Comey, daughter of former FBI Director Comey, was dismissed from her position as a prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in July of this year.

She has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, claiming her dismissal was unfair, and has a background in handling cases such as the Epstein sex trafficking scandal.

President Trump has been publicly pressuring the Department of Justice and prosecutors for days to use the criminal justice system to punish individuals who have politically opposed him, including Comey.

Eric Siebert, who served as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia since the start of Trump's second term, refused to pursue the indictment of Comey. On the 19th, President Trump dismissed him and appointed White House Special Counsel Lindsey Halligan as acting U.S. Attorney on Monday, the 22nd.

Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, reversed the decision not to prosecute on the same day she was appointed acting U.S. Attorney and instructed prosecutors to pursue the indictment.

On the 20th, President Trump explicitly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict three individuals who have politically opposed him – Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (Democrat-California) – "immediately."

Yonhap News