Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted on two charges by the Justice Department: one count of making a false statement and another count of obstructing a congressional proceeding. Media reports indicate that the first charge is connected to an FBI investigation involving Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate against Donald Trump.
What is the Hillary Clinton link in James Comey’s indictment?
The first charge, as reported by The New York Times, alleges that Comey “willfully and knowingly” made a “false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement” during a September 2020 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that hearing, he reaffirmed his 2017 testimony, asserting that he did not disclose—or authorize anyone else to disclose—information about FBI probes involving both Trump and Clinton.
The indictment states that during the 2020 hearing, Comey claimed he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” regarding an FBI investigation concerning ‘Person 1’.
“I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017,” Comey told Republican Senator Ted Cruz during the hearing.
The indictment further asserts that Comey’s statement was “false,” as he allegedly “then and there knew” that he had “authorized Person 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning Person 1.”
According to multiple media reports, prosecutors are referring to a leak connected to an FBI probe involving Hillary Clinton.
ABC reported, citing sources, that ‘Person 1’ in the indictment is Clinton, while ‘Person 3’ is Daniel Richman, Comey’s close friend and former personal lawyer.
It remains unclear which news reports are referenced, though a Reuters report suggests it may relate to an October 2016 Wall Street Journal article about an FBI investigation into the Clinton family’s charitable foundation.
