Comey pleads not guilty false statements charges, defense lawyer calls it ‘vindictive prosecution’

Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a Virginia federal court to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. 

The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, granted Comey a jury trial starting Jan. 5, 2026. The Biden-appointed judge will be handling the case and the likely trial. The DOJ said that they would not be seeking Comey’s detention ahead of the trial, and the judge placed Comey on a personal recognizance bond.

Comey's arraignment is likely among the first of many legal battles between the former bureau chief and the Justice Department.

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury last month for allegedly lying to Congress when he denied authorizing FBI leaks to the media. Multiple sources told Just the News that Comey had been charged with authorizing his personal adviser and friend Daniel Richman to leak to the press and then misleading the Senate about it.

Comey, fired as FBI director in 2017 by President Trump, oversaw the 2016 investigation into whether then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, used a private email server to send classified information and the investigation into allegations the campaign for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was colluding with Russia to influence the outcome of the White House race.

The Justice Department was represented in court Wednesday by Nathaniel Lemons, a federal prosecutor who normally operates out of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Comey was represented by high-profile former federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who currently lectures at the University of Chicago School of Law.

The indictments against Comey were brought last month by interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan. The former personal Trump lawyer and Trump White House aide replaced Erik S. Siebert, who resigned days before the indictments were announced, allegedly under pressure from the Trump administration to bring charges against Comey.

Comey was dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and a red tie, and his height was evident when the judge called him to the microphone to ask if he understood his rights, to which Comey replied, “I do, your honor, thank you very much.”

Fitzgerald told the judge that Comey was waiving his right to a public reading of the indictment against him, adding that “my client wishes to enter a plea of not guilty.”

Richman, a former DOJ official and current professor of law at Columbia University Law School, was a special government employee for the FBI during the 2016 election, and it is already public knowledge that Richman later assisted Comey with leaking the so-called “Comey Memos” to the New York Times in 2017 after Comey's firing by President Donald Trump.

The leak was apparently an effort by Comey to prompt the appointment of a special counsel to carry on the bureau’s Trump-Russia investigation, which proved to be baseless. Comey has described Richman as a “friend” to investigators, and Richman also went on to be Comey’s personal attorney. 

He concluded his Clinton probe by saying it found no "clear evidence" that she and colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information but "there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

Comey’s alleged leaking, and Richman’s potential role in it, were already part of the FBI’s prior Arctic Haze and Tropic Vortex classified leaks inquiries and were reviewed by then-U.S. Attorney John Durham. However, Comey never faced criminal charges over his alleged leaks – until the grand jury in Virginia charged him with lying to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

The indictment against Comey came two weeks after Richman was subpoenaed as part of a criminal probe.

The indictment sought by the Trump Justice Department and approved by a grand jury stems from allegations that Comey misled the Senate during his testimony in late September 2020, when he reiterated his May 2017 denial that he had ever authorized an FBI leak of information to the media about the Trump-Russia investigation or Clinton-related investigations. The indictment also alleged that Comey had obstructed Congress by lying to the Senate.

“On or about September 30, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant, JAMES B. COMEY JR., did willfully and knowingly make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the Government of the United Stales, by falsely stating to a U.S. Senator during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he, JAMES B. COMEY JR., had not ‘authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports’ regarding an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1,” the indictment states.

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed that “Person 1” is Hillary Clinton. The sources declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the investigation.

The indictment also states Comey’s leak authorization denial “was false, because, as JAMES B. COMEY JR. then and there knew, he in fact had authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1.”

The allegation that “Person 3” is Richman comes after multiple news articles had apparently suggested that the person in question whom Comey had allegedly authorized to leak had been former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. The sources familiar with the matter stated that “Person 3” is Richman.

Fitzgerald emphasized on Wednesday that “we have not received a single piece of discovery” yet and that “we still have not been told who Person 3 and Person 1 are.”

Comey’s lawyer also signaled that he would be filing a host of motions aimed at getting the case thrown out before it even goes to trial, with the first round including a vindictive prosecution motion and a motion to challenge the lawfulness of the appointment of Halligan, who brought the case before the federal grand jury in September.

Fitzgerald told the judge that he wanted Halligan’s appointment papers as soon as possible, because “we don’t want to be shooting at the wrong target” and “we want to know what we are shooting at.”

The former prosecutor turned defense attorney added that “the cart may have been put before the horse” in the prosecution against his client.

The Comey lawyer said that a second round of likely motions he would file included a truth defense motion, meaning Comey should not be prosecuted for an alleged false statement that was literally true, as well as a grand jury abuse motion and an outrageous government conduct motion.

Lemons did not seek to push back on Comey’s legal defenses in court, but said there was “no objection from the government” on a January trial.

The judge said that one “wrinkle” would be that any motion seeking to disqualify Halligan would be handled by an out-of-district judge and not by him.

Nachmanoff said that the first set of motions would be due by Oct. 20, with briefing on the motions complete by Nov. 10 and an oral argument on the motions set for Nov. 19.

The judge said the second set of motions would begin by Oct. 30, with briefing done by Nov. 20 and oral argument on Dec. 9.

Nachmanoff said that “I will not slow this case down because the government does not promptly turn everything over” to the defense that it is required to. Lemons said that he expected the January trial would only take two or three days, and Fitzgerald agreed.

The DOJ and Comey’s lawyer both signaled that classified information would be involved in the case. Lemons said that “there is a large amount of discovery which also includes classified” details. Fitzgerald emphasized that neither he nor Comey’s other defense lawyer, Jessica Carmichael, currently had security clearances.

The judge emphasized that the prosecution and defense must “immediately” discuss access to classified information. Nachmanoff said he did not see a reason why Fitzgerald should not get a clearance quickly. The judge said that “this does not appear to me to be a complicated case.”

Nachmanoff vowed that “there should be no reason that this case gets off track because of some classified information.” The judge also emphasized that the DOJ needed to hand over any and all exculpatory evidence to Comey as required under law.

At Comey’s direction, records show Richman was made a special government employee in 2015 through early 2017, where he allegedly spoke with the press to help shape news stories in Comey’s favor, although Richman has said Comey never asked him to talk to the press.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had asked Comey in a May 2017 hearing whether he had “ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation.” 

Comey replied, “Never.”

Grassley then asked whether Comey had “ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation.” 

Comey again testified, “No.”

When asked whether any classified information “relating to President Trump or his associates” had ever been declassified and shared with journalists, Comey said, “Not to my knowledge.”

While that testimony by Comey likely falls outside the statute of limitations for a false statements charge, he directly doubled down on it in another Senate Judiciary Committee appearance on September 30, 2020.

During that hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, brought up McCabe when pressing Comey on whether he had ever authorized leaks to the media.

“Now, as you know, Mr. McCabe, who works for you, has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it,” Cruz said. “Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who's telling the truth?”

Comey replied, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”

“So your testimony is you've never authorized anyone to leak? And Mr. McCabe, if he says contrary, is not telling the truth, is that correct?” Cruz asked.

Comey replied, “Again, I'm not going to characterize Andy's testimony, but mine is the same today.”

Just the News reported this summer that FBI agents did force an admission that Comey used a special conduit to a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer in his bid to polish his image and push for a special prosecutor to take down Trump.

Richman admitted to agents that he routinely communicated on behalf of Comey, his longtime friend, with Times reporter Michael Schmidt, whose work was among the newspaper's Pulitzer-winning stories on the Russiagate saga. The goal, Richman told the FBI, was "to correct stories critical” of Comey and the FBI and to “shape future press coverage.”

Richman insisted to federal agents that he did not believe he had confirmed or provided classified intelligence to reporters but said he could not be 100% certain, the memos state, noting he could only make his leak denial “with a discount.”

Just the News also reported this past summer that federal prosecutors gathered evidence from more of Comey's top lieutenants that he authorized the leak of classified information to reporters just before the 2016 presidential election but declined to bring criminal charges.

It is not known what role the revelations involving ex-FBI general counsel James Baker and ex-Comey chief of staff James Rybicki might play in the prosecution of Comey.

Comey said on Instagram after the indictment was announced last month that “my heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system.” The fired FBI chief added: “And I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”