Former FBI Director James Comey, who has been the target of Donald Trump’s attacks for years, could face criminal charges in the next few days for allegedly lying to Congress.
Trump and his MAGA conspiracy theorist followers have long maligned Comey as a leader of the government’s “deep state.”
The report that the former FBI boss might be indicted came days after the president raged in a Truth Social post that Comey hadn’t been charged despite being “guilty as hell.”
It followed the decision by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert to resign because he was reportedly under pressure to indict Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
On Monday, Trump hired one of his former personal lawyers, Lindsey Halligan, as acting U.S. Attorney for the district.
Now, according to MSNBC, federal prosecutors are nearing a decision to indict Comey, 64, who headed the bureau from 2013 until his termination in 2017.
Comey was fired by Trump, who was angered by his handling of the Russiagate conspiracy, early in his first term.
The criminal probe has centered on claims that Comey made false statements during the September 2020 testimony he made about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Comey is adamant that he was truthful under oath, and he has not been charged with any crime.
Comey faced backlash in May after posting an image on social media of seashells spelling out the numbers “86 47,″ which Republicans attacked as a threat to Trump.
The number 86 can sometimes be used as a way of saying something is being discarded or thrown away. Comey denied the post meant anything sinister.
Trump also accused Comey of leaking memos to the media about their conversations while he was FBI chief. A Department of Justice Inspector General’s report said later that Comey violated agency policy by leaking the information.
“Perhaps never in the history of our Country has someone been more thoroughly disgraced and excoriated than James Comey in the just released Inspector General’s Report. He should be ashamed of himself!” Trump posted at the time.
