The former FBI director James Comey declared himself innocent on Wednesday of both positions in a federal accusation, and his lawyers said they will seek that the case be dismissed for a vindictive and selective processing.
A Federal Grand Jury accused Comey on September 25, a few days after President Donald Trump publicly demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice act “now” against Comey and other political opponents.
Comey is accused of a position of false statements and a position of obstruction of a Congress procedure, related to its testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee in 2020.
The statement was filed by his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald, who requested a jury trial.
The judge read the charges and said they carry a penalty of up to five years in prison with a fine of $ 250,000.
He asked if Comey understood the charges and he replied: “Yes, honor.”
The trial date for January 5 was set.
The judge asked how long the government was waiting for the trial, and the government said between 2 and 3 days.
The judge said he was willing to move forward with a quick trial. The government said the case was “complicated”, but it did not seem to object to the date of trial in court.
“This does not seem to be a complicated case,” said the judge.
Fitzgerald agreed and said: “We see this as a simple case.”
Comey has been white for Trump’s criticism for his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections for a long time, Trump, speaking with journalists at the Oval office, called Comey a “dirty police” and said it was a “simple case.”
But the Comey issue has generated confusion in the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for Eastern District of Virginia, according to Fuentes. The previous US prosecutor, Erik Siebert, resigned from Trump administration pressures to present criminal charges against Comment and New York Attorney, Letitia James. Trump said he fired Siebert.
The former director of the Federal Research Office, James Comey, speaks with media members in the Rayburn House office building in Capitol Hill on December 7, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Then, Trump personally chose Halligan, a White House assistant and his former defense lawyer, to replace Siebert and direct the office. Haligan presented the Comey case before the Grand Jury, despite the fact that prosecutors and investigators allegedly determined that there were not enough evidence to accuse him, ABC News reported at that time.
Comey’s lawyers told the judge on Wednesday that they plan to present a motion by challenging the legality of Haligan’s appointment, but will be heard by a different judge appointed by the main judge of the Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit of the United States.
On Wednesday, the judge ordered the government to respond to those motions before November 3 and ordered the defense to respond before November 10. The judge said he wants the case to be completely informed before November 19 and said that the hearings will be planned for November 19 and December 9.
The oral arguments will be carried out on December 9 on the motion of the defense of dismissal due to abuse of the Grand Jury, “Government’s Scandalous Behavior” and other motions that Comey’s lawyers did not reveal.
Both the defense and the judge expressed some confusion about why the government said there would be a substantial amount of classified information involved in the case.
At one point, Fitzgerald said he believed that the government should have solved the problem with classified information before presenting the case. It seems that “the car has put on the horse,” said Fitzgerald.
The judge said there should be no reason for the case to deviate due to classified information.
“We will go through the cupa process faster than ever seen in his life,” he joked, referring to the litigation that occurs around cases that involve classified information.
The judge also said: “I will not delay this case” for the government’s obligations to present evidence to the defense.
Comey was in court on Wednesday since he was accused last month, where he was joined inside the Court of the Court of Alexandria, Virginia, Fitzgerald and lawyers David Kelley and Jessica Carmichael.
Lindsey Halligan, lawyer of Donald Trump, holds ceremonial proclamations that will be signed by Donald Trump (not in the photo) in the Oval Office of the White House, on March 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
To the Drago/Getty Images
The Government was represented by Halligan and Nathaniel “Tyler” Lemons, prosecutor of the Eastern District of North Carolina. Before the reading of charges on Wednesday, the Department of Justice added two American prosecutors from outside the State to work in the case.
The wife of Comey and her daughter, Maureen Comey, were seen arriving at the Court of Alexandria before the procedure.
Comey has denied having acted badly and has said that he expects a trial.
Alexandra Hutzler, Alexander Mallin, Peter Charalambous and Ely Brown from ABC News contributed to this report.
