What to know about the James Comey indictment and what happens next
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By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
(CNN) — Get ready for a 2016 redux.
The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey made public on Thursday is likely to put on display, yet again, the blockbuster political discourse around the FBI investigations in 2016 that affected the presidential election.
Central to the case: Leaks to media outlets that Comey was asked about in 2017 and 2020 congressional testimony.
Comey, the long-time nemesis of Donald Trump from the early days of Trump’s first term, has been criminally charged with two felonies, both related to a lie he allegedly told Congress in 2020.
Though the attorney general and even prosecutors on the case had reservations about its strength, acting US Attorney Lindsey Halligan — appointed by the president over the weekend after a previous US attorney left due to disagreements over charging Trump’s political opponents – presented the charges to a close grand jury meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon.
In the grand jury room, 14 of at most 23 grand jurors decided prosecutors had probable cause to indict Comey, subsequent court proceedings on Thursday revealed. Yet one charge prosecutors had wanted against Comey was rejected by the grand jury.
Here’s what to know:
Two felony charges
Comey is charged with two felony counts that go hand-in-hand: Obstruction of the congressional proceeding where he testified on September 30, 2020, and making a false statement to Congress during that testimony.
During the 2020 testimony, Comey doubled down to the Senate that he had not been authorizing leaks to the press when he was FBI director atop sensitive 2016 investigations.
He had previously testified in 2017 that he hadn’t authorized leaks. In 2020, Comey said, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”
The Justice Department said in its indictment on Thursday that Comey “knew” and “in fact had authorized” an unnamed contact of his “to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation.”
Some of the details around the leak still aren’t known, but could come out in court in subsequent proceedings, especially during a trial.
For instance, the person Comey allegedly authorized to leak about an FBI investigation is only called “Person 3” in the court documents.
It’s also not known exactly which investigative detail was leaked to the press – or even which 2016 investigation it stems from. Comey has come under scrutiny for his handling of two 2016 investigations, one around Clinton, and the other around Trump, both of which played a role in the presidential campaign that year.
The charge the grand jury rejected
The prosecutors, however, took one allegation to the grand jury and failed to win their approval, according to the court record.
Called a “no true bill” from the grand jury, a “no” vote in court against a potential charge that prosecutors sought is a highly unusual occurrence. The grand jury wouldn’t have a majority, of 12 or more, believing there was probable cause for the charge.
In this investigation of Comey, prosecutors had wanted to charge Comey with a false statement to Congress related to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Documents now public in court appear to pinpoint Comey’s answer to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he was asked prior knowledge he may have had on an alleged plan from Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign that could help her campaign and hurt Trump’s.
“That doesn’t ring any bells with me,” Comey testified in 2020 in response to a question from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
That will not be part of the case going forward.
What’s next?
The current political climate, with Trump and top White House advisers calling broadly for the prosecution of Comey, is likely to factor into the case — as the court proceedings are likely one of the most intense political standoffs since Trump himself faced criminal charges, which were later dropped.
Comey will need to be arraigned in court, which is currently set for October 9, according to the court record.
Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee to the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, has told Comey to come to court for his arraignment in October, where he will have a chance to enter a pleading of not guilty and the progression to trial kicks off.
From there, his attorneys will have many chances to poke holes in the indictment, and both sides will be able to use the court proceedings to air facts and arguments about the case.
Over the past several days, Trump has made several statements about Comey, calling him a bad person who deserved “justice,” then posting on social media after the indictment that “HE LIED!”
Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to again blast Comey, as well as the judge assigned to the case, writing that the former FBI director is “off to a very good start.”
“Nevertheless, words are words, and he wasn’t hedging or in dispute,” Trump wrote. “He was very positive, there was no doubt in his mind about what he said or meant by saying it. He left himself ZERO margin of error on a big and important answer to a question.”
Comey’s defense team will be able to ask the judge to dismiss the charges, discuss public statements the Justice Department and, potentially Trump himself, have made about Comey, and review all of the evidence before a trial. They also may be able to collect the internal documents at the Justice Department that record how and why prosecutors had concerns about bringing this case against Comey.
“Fortunately for Comey, the President puts so much in writing! Comey can easily point to all of those social media statements to argue that the charges aren’t just based on his alleged wrongdoing, but on politics or personal ill will,” Elliott Williams, CNN legal analyst said Friday. Williams said Comey’s team also may be able to put Justice Department officials under oath in pre-trial challenges to the case.
Comey’s legal team hasn’t divulged their strategy or plans yet to challenge the charges.
Comey, in a video he released on Thursday, said “I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
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