Comey indicted on two counts of false statements and obstruction

Former FBI director James Comey was indicted on two federal criminal counts on Thursday, according to officials, as a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned charges alleging he made false statements to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding. The indictment centers on testimony Comey gave in 2020 to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his handling of the FBI’s inquiry into Russian contacts with the 2016 Trump campaign.

Justice Department officials and the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia are overseeing the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement saying, "No one is above the law," and that the department will follow the facts in the case. A person familiar with the indictment said the two counts are false statements and obstruction; a third charge reportedly presented to the grand jury was not approved.

The case was brought to a grand jury by Lindsey Halligan, who was sworn in this week as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after the departure of her predecessor, Erik Siebert. Halligan is a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump and had not previously served as a prosecutor, according...