Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for lying to Congress.
Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, Fox News reports.
There have been demands for years from President Trump and his MAGA base to punish "Deep State" figures like Comey, a notorious Trump critic who oversaw the Trump-Russia probe, known as "Crossfire Hurricane," before his firing in May 2017.
"No one is above the law," said Attorney General Pam Bondi. "Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case."
Prosecutors had been facing a Tuesday deadline to charge Comey over statements he made to Congress in September 2020, denying that he made unauthorized leaks to the media.
FBI director Kash Patel touted the charges against Comey as a step towards accountability for the Russian collusion hoax that derailed Trump's first term.
"Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch," Patel wrote on X.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller spent nearly two years investigating Trump but failed to find evidence of Russian collusion.
In 2019, Comey was reprimanded by the Justice Department's Inspector General for publicizing sensitive memos of his conversations with Trump through a friend, Columbia University professor Daniel Richman.
Comey admitted to Congress that he leaked his memos to trigger a Special Counsel probe into Trump, whom Comey has criticized repeatedly over the years.
The case against Comey is being led by Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump recently appointed as acting US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan has never been a prosecutor before.
Trump had pressured Halligan's predecessor, Erik Siebert, to resign after he failed to bring a case against another Trump foe, New York attorney general Letitia James (D), for mortgage fraud.
Comey also fell under scrutiny earlier this year for sharing what many saw as a coded threat to kill Trump, "8647."
In a recent post, Trump publicly complained to Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Justice Department's inaction against foes like Comey.
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump wrote.
