Comey pleads not guilty as lawyers signal intent to argue Trump foe's
case is politically motivated
[October 09, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a
criminal case that has highlighted the Justice Department's efforts to
target adversaries of President Donald Trump, with lawyers for the
former FBI director saying they plan to argue the prosecution is
politically motivated and should be dismissed.
The arraignment lasted less than half an hour, but it was nonetheless
loaded with historical significance given that the case has amplified
concerns the Justice Department is being weaponized in pursuit of the
Republican president's political enemies and is operating at the behest
of an administration determined to seek retribution.
Comey's not guilty plea to allegations that he lied to Congress five
years ago kick-starts a process of legal wrangling that could culminate
in a trial months from now at the federal courthouse in Alexandria,
Virginia, just outside of Washington. Defense lawyers said they intend
to ask that the case be thrown out before trial on grounds that it
constitutes a vindictive prosecution and also plan to challenge the
legitimacy of the appointment of the prosecutor who filed the charges
just days after Trump hastily appointed her to her position.
“It’s the honor of my life to represent Mr. Comey in this matter,” one
of Comey's lawyers, Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime friend who served
with him in President George W. Bush's Justice Department, said in court
on Wednesday.
The indictment two weeks ago followed an extraordinary chain of events
that saw the Trump administration effectively force out the prosecutor
who had been overseeing the Comey investigation and replace him with
Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who previously served as one of the
president's former lawyers but had never served as a federal prosecutor.
The president also publicly implored Attorney General Pam Bondi to take
action against Comey and other perceived adversaries.
Less than a week after being appointed, Halligan rushed to file charges
before a legal deadline lapsed despite warnings from other lawyers in
the office that the evidence was insufficient for an indictment. She sat
at the prosecution table Wednesday.
In a sign of the unusual nature of the case, the two prosecutors who
have signed on to handle it are both based in North Carolina as opposed
to the elite Eastern District of Virginia, which Halligan now leads.
What the indictment says
The two-count indictment alleges that Comey misled the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Sept. 30, 2020, when he was asked whether he had authorized
any associate to serve as an anonymous source to the news media related
to investigations of either Trump or 2016 Democratic presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton. Comey replied that he stood by earlier
testimony that he had not given such authorization.
The two-count indictment charging him with making a false statement and
obstructing a congressional proceeding does not identify the associate
or say what information may have been discussed with the media, making
it challenging to assess the strength of the evidence or to even fully
parse the allegations.
Comey has denied any wrongdoing and has said he's looking forward to a
trial, which the judge set for Jan. 5, though that date will be subject
to change.
Though an indictment is typically just the start of a protracted court
process, the Justice Department has trumpeted the development itself as
something of a win, regardless of the outcome. Trump administration
officials are likely to point to any conviction as proof the case was
well-justified, but an acquittal or even dismissal may also be held up
as further support for their long-running contention the criminal
justice system is stacked against them.
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Family of former FBI Director James Comey and others, arrive at
federal court in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
The judge was nominated by Biden
The judge randomly assigned to the case, Michael Nachmanoff, was
nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden's Democratic
administration and is a former federal defender in Virginia. Known
for methodical preparation and a cool temperament, the judge and his
background have already drawn Trump's attention, with the president
deriding him as a “Crooked Joe Biden appointed Judge."
He signaled in court Wednesday that he intended to push the case
forward and would not permit unnecessary delays.
Several Comey family members were in court for his arraignment,
including his daughter Maurene, who was fired by the Justice
Department earlier this year from her position as a federal
prosecutor in Manhattan, as well as Troy Edwards Jr., a son-in-law
of Comey's who minutes after Comey was indicted resigned his job as
a prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia — the office that
filed the charges.
Comey is not the only Trump foe under investigation. Others include
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff of
California. Lawyers for James and Schiff, both Democrats, call the
investigations meritless.
Trump and Comey's fraught relationship
The indictment was the latest chapter in a long-broken relationship
between Trump and Comey.
Trump arrived in office in January 2017 as Comey, appointed to the
FBI director job by President Barack Obama about four years earlier,
was overseeing an investigation into ties between Russia and Trump's
2016 presidential campaign.
The dynamic was fraught from the start, with Comey briefing Trump
weeks before he took office on the existence of uncorroborated and
sexually salacious gossip in a dossier of opposition research
compiled by a former British spy.
During their subsequent private interactions, Comey would later
reveal, Trump asked his FBI director to pledge his loyalty to him
and to drop an FBI investigation into his administration’s first
national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Comey said Trump also
asked him to announce that Trump himself was not under investigation
as part of the broader inquiry into Russian election interference,
something Comey did not do.
Comey was abruptly fired in May 2017, with Trump later saying he was
thinking about “this Russia thing” when he decided to terminate him.
The firing was investigated by Justice Department special counsel
Robert Mueller as an act of potential obstruction of justice.
Comey in 2018 published a memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” that painted
Trump in deeply unflattering ways, likening him to a mafia don and
characterizing him as unethical and “untethered to truth.”
Trump, for his part, continued to angrily vent at Comey as the
Russia investigation led by Mueller dominated headlines for the next
two years and shadowed his first administration. On social media, he
repeatedly claimed Comey should face charges for “treason” — an
accusation Comey dismissed as “dumb lies” — and called him an
“untruthful slime ball.”
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Tucker reported from Washington.
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