The Justice Department has issued an update following the indictment of disgraced former FBI Director James Comey.
Comey is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on October 9, according to court records. A summons has been issued directing Comey to appear at 10 a.m. that day.
Two sources previously told CNN that officials initially expected Comey to surrender on Friday. However, the court record shows no arrest warrant has been issued that would require an immediate surrender.
President Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to celebrate the indictment and declared Comey a “dirty cop.”
“Whether you like Corrupt James Comey or not, and I can’t imagine too many people liking him, HE LIED!” Trump wrote. “It is not a complex lie, it’s a very simple, but IMPORTANT one. There is no way he can explain his way out of it.”
Comey has also responded to the indictment.
“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way,” Comey, who denies the allegations, said in an Instagram video. “We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she’s right.”
“But I’m not afraid,” he added.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,” Comey continued. “I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”
A federal grand jury has indicted James Comey following an investigation into whether he lied to Congress during his Sept. 30, 2020, testimony about the FBI’s handling of its Trump–Russia probe, known internally as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
The indictment also accuses Comey of falsely testifying that he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source for media reports, a statement prosecutors say was untrue, Fox News reported.
“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated on X. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”
FBI Director Kash Patel also took to the platform, writing, “Today, your FBI took another step in its promise of full accountability.”
“For far too long, previous corrupt leadership and their enablers weaponized federal law enforcement, damaging once proud institutions and severely eroding public trust,” he said. “Every day, we continue the fight to earn that trust back, and under my leadership, this FBI will confront the problem head-on. Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose.”
“Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch,” he added.
The indictment alleges that Comey made false statements under oath to Congress, including his claim that he never authorized anyone at the FBI to act as an anonymous source for media reports.
Prosecutors say that assertion was untrue, citing accounts that then–Deputy Director Andrew McCabe acknowledged receiving Comey’s approval to share information with reporters.
The case marks a dramatic turn for Comey, who led the FBI during two of the most politically sensitive investigations of recent decades: the 2016 inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and the counterintelligence probe into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Both cases drew heavy criticism, with Democrats accusing Comey of undermining Clinton’s campaign and Republicans accusing him of launching a partisan “witch hunt” against Trump.
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017, a move that later became a central focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible obstruction of justice.
Since then, Comey has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, frequently weighing in on the former president’s legal troubles and describing his own firing as politically motivated.