Washington — Federal prosecutors are nearing a decision about whether to seek an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime foe of President Trump’s, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.
It’s unclear what alleged crimes Comey could be charged with, but multiple media outlets have reported that prosecutors have looked into charging him with lying to Congress when he testified in 2020 about the origins of the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The five-year statute of limitations for that runs out on Tuesday.
Prosecutors are considering presenting a case against Comey to a grand jury, sources told CBS News. In order to indict him, a majority of the grand jury would need to vote that there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed — a lower standard than the burden of proof needed to secure a criminal conviction.
If Comey is charged, it would mark a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s push to punish the president’s adversaries. Just four days ago, Mr. Trump penned a Truth Social post that appeared to urge Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Comey, among others, calling them “guilty as hell” and writing, “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”
Mr. Trump also said Saturday he had fired the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia. A day earlier, the official, Erik Siebert, announced his resignation amid concerns from prosecutors in the office that he could be removed for refusing to charge another Trump political foe, New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday.
Comey and the president have sparred for years. In the lead-up to the 2016 election, Comey oversaw investigations into alleged Russian election interference — including whether Russia sought to aid Mr. Trump’s campaign — and into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The FBI’s handling of both probes has drawn heavy scrutiny, and the Russia investigation, dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane,” has long outraged Mr. Trump and his allies.
Mr. Trump fired Comey months into his first term in 2017, and the two have slammed each other periodically ever since. Comey has called Mr. Trump “morally unfit” to be president and has accused Mr. Trump of demanding that Comey pledge his loyalty to him when he was FBI director. Mr. Trump has accused Comey of lying and suggested he should be jailed.
Since Mr. Trump’s return to office, he has continued to rail against the FBI and other agencies involved in the Russia probe. In recent months, the Justice Department has been investigating the handling of classified Russia-related materials by former senior FBI officials, and intelligence agencies have revisited their Russia investigations. In 2017, U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Russia sought to meddle in the 2016 race and had a preference for Mr. Trump.
The handling of the Comey probe has worried some legal experts.
“What is different about this case is that there clearly has been significant presidential pressure brought to bear,” Tom Dupree, a George W. Bush-era Justice Department official, told CBS News. “You don’t want a universe in which that pressure distorts the prosecutorial judgment and makes prosecutors make charging decisions based not on the evidence, but on what they think will please the president.”
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