Former FBI director James Comey on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation.

A trial date was set for Jan. 5, 2026.

An indictment approved by a grand jury late last month accuses Comey of authorizing an FBI employee to disclose information about a federal probe. The false statement allegation stems from a Sept. 30, 2020, congressional hearing, with charges brought just under the wire of a five-year statute of limitations.

The charges were brought forth by Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump who was working until last month as a White House aide in Trump’s second administration. Halligan was installed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor was forced out, reportedly over his reticence to prosecute Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she wouldn’t reveal whether she discussed the prosecution of Comey with Trump, responding to questions from Democrats at a Senate judiciary committee hearing.

In a public social media post on Sept. 20, Trump beseeched Bondi to investigate three people that Trump sees as political enemies, including Comey. It’s not clear if Trump intended for the post to be public or meant it to be a private message.

Comey’s indictment led to the resignation of his son-in-law, who was working as an attorney for the Eastern District.

Separately, Maurene Comey, his daughter, was among dozens of Justice Department and FBI officials let go by the Trump administration this year, after working as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan. Maurene Comey has sued the administration, alleging an unlawful dismissal.

James Comey, like all FBI directors before or since, was a registered Republican. Democratic President Barack Obama appointed him to the role, and Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign praised Comey for having the “guts” to reopen an investigation into rival Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server years earlier, when she was secretary of state. 

That late-campaign announcement angered Democrats, who, along with some election analysts, cited it as a key factor in Trump’s win in 2016.   

However, in May 2017, Trump fired Comey with six years left in a traditional 10-year term for director. The relationship soured after a series of incidents — Comey was tasked with sharing with the president-elect unverified intelligence on Trump that included salacious allegations; resisted pressure from Trump to not investigate national security adviser Michael Flynn; and informed Congress and a live television audience that the FBI had for several months been investigating contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian individuals.

Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation was cited in documents outlining his firing. But Trump soon admitted “this Russian thing” was a cloud over his presidency that he sought to eliminate — though a two-year special counsel probe resulted instead. 

Despite the firing and the rancour from Trump, Comey told CBC News in early 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that Joe Biden should consider issuing a pardon to Trump for any potential criminal charges, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to protest Biden’s certification as president.

That didn’t happen, and Trump faced a pair of criminal indictments related to his actions protesting his 2020 election loss. The cases were closed after his remarkable comeback was capped by a win in the 2024 presidential election.

Contentious Instagram post

Earlier this year, Comey was interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service. Comey said they asked about an Instagram post he published and then deleted. Right-wing podcast hosts and pundits seized on the post, alleging it was an incitement to violence against Trump, which Comey has denied. 

PHOTOS | Former FBI director appears in court:

Trump and his allies departed from modern precedent by raising the issue of potentially jailing political opponents, beginning with “Lock her up!” chants directed at Clinton during the 2016 campaign and Republican convention.

Hours before Wednesday’s hearing, Trump called for jailing Chicago’s mayor and Illinois’s governor, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, despite their state’s opposition to the federal intervention.

Prosecutions for lying to Congress are rare, but not unheard of, and defendants in recent cases have included Trump ally Roger Stone as well as Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer.

In terms of similar indictments for persons of Comey’s former stature, Caspar Weinberger was indicted for lying to Congress and obstruction in 1992 related to the Iran-Contra scandal. The former defence secretary for Ronald Reagan was subsequently pardoned by Reagan’s successor, George H. W. Bush.