James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations that he lied before Congress in September 2020.
The indictment came after President Trump intensified his pressure campaign on the Justice Department to bring charges against Mr. Comey and other perceived enemies.
Here’s what to know about the indictment, and what’s next for Mr. Comey:
What does it mean to be indicted?
An indictment is a formal accusation of a serious crime. In the case of Mr. Comey, the filing accuses him of lying to Congress under oath.
For someone to be indicted in a criminal court in the United States, a grand jury, chosen at random, must believe that evidence presented by a prosecutor is sufficient to charge the person with a crime.
Grand jurors hear evidence and testimony only from prosecutors and the witnesses they choose to present. They do not hear from the defense or the accused person, and defense lawyers do not receive the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.
In such a one-sided arrangement, prosecutors tend to hold sway over grand juries and can persuade them more easily to issue an indictment.
An indictment requires a lower burden of proof: A simple majority of the grand jury is sufficient to issue an indictment, unlike in a criminal trial, where juries have to reach a unanimous verdict.
Why was Mr. Comey indicted?
Mr. Comey was indicted on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction in connection with his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee five years ago.
The indictment asserts that Mr. Comey falsely claimed during a hearing before the committee that he had not authorized anyone in the F.B.I. to leak information to the news media about an investigation into an unnamed person.
It was not clear which episode the indictment referred to.
Prosecutors have long looked into whether Mr. Comey should be charged with lying to lawmakers about the F.B.I.’s investigation of Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and its possible ties to Russia. Mr. Trump has railed against the Russia investigation for years, calling it a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.” He abruptly fired Mr. Comey in 2017, when the F.B.I. investigated whether some of Mr. Trump’s advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Many current and former Justice Department officials said they considered the filing of criminal charges against Mr. Comey to be based on weak evidence and also troubling, since, they argued, it could lead to more prosecutors resigning in protest over how the Trump administration has sought to use the agency.
Who is the federal prosecutor of the case?
Lindsey Halligan, who was appointed by Mr. Trump on Monday to replace the ousted U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, filed the criminal charges in Alexandria, Va.
Ms. Halligan is a staunch ally of Mr. Trump and once served as one of his personal defense lawyers. She spent a large part of her career as an insurance lawyer in Florida, and had no prosecutorial experience before presenting the case against Mr. Comey to the grand jury.
Ms. Halligan replaced Erik S. Siebert, whom Mr. Trump forced out for failing to bring charges against Mr. Comey and another of the president’s perceived enemies, Letitia James, the New York attorney general who sued Mr. Trump for inflating the value of his assets.
Ms. Halligan overruled career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia who found insufficient evidence to warrant an indictment.
What happens next?
Mr. Comey’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 9, when Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff of Federal District Court will officially inform him of his charges and Mr. Comey will plead guilty or not guilty. Mr. Comey has maintained that he is innocent, and on Thursday posted a video to social media in which he appeared to handle the news of the indictment calmly.
“I have great confidence in the federal justice system, and I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial,” he said.
It can take months for a case to go to trial, as both sides argue over various elements of the proceeding, including what evidence can be presented to a jury.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
The post Here’s What to Know About Comey’s Indictment appeared first on New York Times.
