Former FBI Director James Comey speaks at a literary event in New York in May 2025. He was arraigned on federal charges Wednesday.
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former FBI Director James Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
Comey pleaded guilty through his attorney Pat Fitzgerald during his arraignment in federal court Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia. The judge in the case set a trial date for January 5, 2026, and Comey is expected to be released unconditionally.
“It is the honor of my life to represent Jim Comey in this case,” Fitzgerald said at the courthouse, where Comey’s family also attended the arraignment.
The former FBI director, who has long been one of President Trump’s most vocal critics, was indicted last month on two counts stemming from his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020. The Justice Department obtained the indictment just days after Trump demanded a faster pace from prosecutors in their investigation against Comey.
Northern Virginia’s top federal prosecutor, Erik Siebert, had questioned the strength of the evidence against Comey.
The Trump administration then replaced Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney. Halligan, who obtained the grand jury indictment against Comey, is calling on North Carolina prosecutors to help with the case.
Comey’s lawyers said they planned to file two sets of motions to dismiss the case, centering on accusations of vindictive or selective prosecution, and that Halligan was illegally appointed.
They may also include allegations of “scandalous conduct” and problems with the grand jury process that indicted Comey last month.
Trump has long lashed out at Comey, accusing the former FBI chief of appointing a special prosecutor who investigated contacts between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign during most of the president’s first term.
