Former FBI Director James Comey has opened up about his indictment and has declared himself innocent in a brand new video.
On Thursday, September 25, Comey said in an Instagram video, "My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. But we couldn't imagine ourselves living any other way."
He added, "My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system. And I'm innocent. So let's have a trial."
The bombshell statement came after a federal grand jury indicted the former director earlier Thursday on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding regarding testimony he gave to Congress in 2020.
Prosecutors allege that he lied to the Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020, when he asserted that he did not authorise an FBI official to act as an anonymous source to the media.
The charges came almost a week after President Donald Trump complained in a social media post that he had seen statements that "nothing is being done" about Comey and other Trump opponents.
Moreover, the indictment came days after the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, where it was filed, was ousted.
Acting US Attorney Erik S. Siebert resigned Friday after pressure from Trump, who said, "I want him out."
Seibert was tasked with pursuing mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Trump political opponent, but never filed charges.
Trump then said he was appointing Lindsey Halligan to replace Siebert. Halligan, a former personal attorney for Trump, was sworn in Monday as interim US attorney for the district.
In July, James Comey's daughter Maurene Comey was fired from her role as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York without being provided a reason for the dismissal.
Earlier this month, she sued the Trump administration over the decision.
