Feds trying to ‘trump up’ indictment of former FBI Director James Comey

In a move that legal scholars are decrying as a flagrant subversion of the rule of law, President Donald Trump has successfully orchestrated the imminent indictment of former FBI Director James B. Comey, transforming the Department of Justice into a weapon of political retribution, according to people familiar with the matter.

The scheme, executed with startling speed and transparency, saw Trump force out a veteran prosecutor who declined to charge Comey, install a loyalist with no prosecutorial experience, and direct the revived case to a grand jury—all within days of his public demands for Comey’s prosecution.

The action fulfills a threat Trump has made since his first impeachment and marks a definitive break from the traditional independence of the federal justice system, establishing a precedent where the president can directly commandeer prosecutorial power to target critics.

“This is the Saturday Night Massacre, but with the opposite goal,” said Dr. Eleanor Vance, a constitutional historian at Georgetown University, referencing President Nixon’s firing of the Watergate special prosecutor. “Nixon fired people to stop an investigation into himself. Trump is firing people to start an investigation into his enemies. The common thread is the utter contempt for the barrier between the White House and the pursuit of justice.”

The machinery was set in motion last week when Trump—the only convicted criminal ever to hold the office of President of the United States— forced the resignation of Erik S. Siebert, the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Siebert, a career prosecutor, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to indict Comey on allegations he lied during 2020 congressional testimony about the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation.

In Siebert’s place, Trump installed Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide with no background as a prosecutor.

Trump replaced Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, as the interim chief federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Within days of Halligan’s swearing-in, prosecutors in the Virginia office, now under her direction, abruptly revived the dormant case. They are preparing to seek an indictment from a grand jury in Richmond as early as Thursday, just before a five-year statute of limitations expires on Tuesday.

The timeline creates a direct line from Trump’s public rhetoric to prosecutorial action.

Days before Siebert’s ouster, Trump stood in the Oval Office and brandished documents he falsely claimed provided “absolute proof” that Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper were criminals.

“They’re sick people, and they’re criminals, and they should be taken care of,” Trump told reporters. He followed that with a social media post over the weekend demanding his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, charge Comey and two other prominent Democrats—New York Attorney General Letitia James and Senator Adam Schiff—declaring, “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Those documents show that officials rushed to provide a report to President Obama concerning Russian interference with the presidential election, which had occurred.

The case against Comey is widely viewed as exceptionally weak, centering on ambiguous testimony.

When asked by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) about an obscure investigative referral, Comey replied, “That doesn’t ring any bells with me.”

He also denied authorizing media leaks, contradicting a claim from a former deputy. Legal experts say such statements fall far short of the bar for perjury, which requires proof of intentionally false, material statements.

“This isn’t a prosecution; it’s a persecution,” said progressive anti-establishment New Jersey Democrat Lisa McCormick. “U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert did his job and determined there was no case. He was fired for having integrity, which is a liability in the fact-free Trump administration.”

“The message this sends to every U.S. Attorney is, prosecute the president’s enemies or lose your job,” said McCormick.

“President Trump said the quiet part out loud: he wants his political opponents prosecuted and imprisoned by any means necessary,” said U.S. Senator Cory Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “This country cannot function with a system of justice for Trump, and one for the rest of us. My Republican colleagues can no longer bury their heads in the sand and ignore the truth. They must join us in condemning this Administration’s brazen assault on the rule of law.”

U.S. Senator Adam Schiff slammed Trump for pressuring the Attorney General to bring baseless cases against his critics – including himself, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – and for filling DOJ and FBI leadership with loyalists who have undermined serious investigations while dismissing corruption among Trump’s allies.

“When you see, for example, Todd Blanche personally intervene in the Epstein case, someone Blanche who acknowledged that he has a continuing duty to his client as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, then it’s the interest of the American people that suffer,” said Schiff. “You’re seeing the same devastation at the FBI, where senior FBI agents are being fired or pushed out, so the nonpartisan leadership at the top is being pushed out. It’s gone. And instead, you have this now fully weaponized department to go after the president’s enemies.”

The pursuit of Comey is steeped in irony.

Trump’s 2017 firing of Comey—initially justified on the recommendation of DOJ officials critical of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation—quickly morphed into an admission that it was related to the “Russia thing.”

That act triggered the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The Mueller report, which detailed ten instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump, now serves as a stark contrast.

Where Mueller was constrained by Justice Department policy from accusing a sitting president of a crime, Trump faces no such restraints.

He is now exploiting the power that Mueller examined him for potentially obstructing.

The retaliatory campaign extends beyond Comey.

Letitia James was recently investigated, but not charged, over a property transaction after a Trump appointee accused her of mortgage fraud.

California US Senator Adam Schiff is under investigation by the U.S. attorney in Maryland for allegations related to a home loan.

For many observers, the moment represents a point of no return.

“The neutrality of American justice has been a bedrock principle,” said McCormick. “What we are witnessing is its deliberate demolition. A president who felt wronged by the system is now burning it down for revenge, and a once-proud Department of Justice is being forced to light the match.”

“The U.S. justice system is being weaponized for political retribution, as federal prosecutors in Virginia, under direct orders from President Donald Trump to ‘lock up’ his political adversaries, are preparing to seek a criminal indictment against former FBI Director James B. Comey,” said Lisa McCormick.

An attorney for Comey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.