The US Justice Department said last night that it has charged former FBI Director James Comey with making false statements and obstructing an investigation, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
This is an escalation of President Donald Trump's campaign to seek revenge against people who investigated or criticized him, Reuters notes.
If Comey is convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
Trump fired the FBI director in 2017, at the beginning of his first presidential term. Since then, the Republican has regularly criticized the investigation led by Comey into Russian ties to his 2016 election campaign, Reuters recalls.
"I am innocent", the former FBI director said in a video posted on the social network "Instagram" after the charges were filed.
"My heart is broken by the actions of the Justice Department, but I believe in the justice system and I am innocent. So let there be a trial and let us believe", he said.
According to a CNN reporter's article in "Ex" James Comey is expected to turn himself in today.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January this year, his Justice Department has been reviewing Comey's 2020 testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, when, in response to Republican criticism, he denied authorizing the release of confidential information to the media about Trump's ties to Russia, Reuters recalls.
The indictment, supported by an expanded jury, came after the president put pressure on US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who he said did not act quickly enough in bringing criminal charges against Comey and other prominent critics of the US president.
“No one is above the law“, Bondi wrote in a post on social media last night. “Today's indictment reflects the Department of Justice's commitment to holding accountable those who abuse power to mislead the American people,” she said.