SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Justice, as in the U.S. Justice Department, can move swiftly. A week ago today, President Trump publicly called on the DOJ to prosecute his perceived political enemies, including the former FBI director James Comey. On Thursday, prosecutors followed through and secured a criminal indictment against James Comey for false statements and obstruction. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas joins us. Ryan, thanks so much for being with us.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Thanks for having me, Scott.
SIMON: What does the indictment allege?
LUCAS: Well, look, it's very much a bare-bones indictment. It's just a page and a half long, but it contains the two counts you mentioned - one for false statements, the other for obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Now, these charges stem from testimony that Comey gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September of 2020, so about five years ago. That hearing revolved around the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The indictment says that Comey lied by denying that he had authorized someone at the FBI to leak information. That appears to be a reference to an exchange at that hearing between Comey and Texas Republican Ted Cruz. Cruz asked Comey whether he had authorized someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports. Comey gave only a brief reply. He told Cruz that he stood by the answer that he had given back in 2017, which was that he had not authorized any such leak.
SIMON: And what do you think we should make of the timing of this indictment, given what the president had said just a week ago?
LUCAS: I think the timing is a really important aspect here. You mentioned the demand the president made one week ago today, in essence instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi by name to investigate specific people he doesn't like. Trump named three people in that post to be prosecuted - New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and James Comey.
Now, the case against Comey was being handled by the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Last week, Trump pushed out the top federal prosecutor there, in part because that prosecutor had expressed doubts about the strength of the case against Comey. Trump then installed Lindsey Halligan to replace him. Halligan has no prosecutorial experience, but she did once serve as a personal attorney for Trump, and she had been working in the White House. Halligan then pushed through the indictment against Comey over the objections of career prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office there, who also had concerns about the strength of the evidence in this case.
SIMON: Now that James Comey's been indicted, what did the president have to say?
LUCAS: Well, Trump was asked about it yesterday when he was leaving the White House. He was asked who would be next on his list of retribution. You can hear the helicopter in the background here, but here's a bit of what he said.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's not a list, but I think there'll be others. I mean, they're corrupt. These were corrupt, radical-left Democrats. 'Cause Comey essentially was a - he's worse than a Democrat.
LUCAS: Now, Trump has insulted Comey for years. He did it again yesterday. He called him a dirty cop. Now, after the indictment was made public, Comey also put out a video on Instagram. Here's a bit of what he said.
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JAMES COMEY: 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. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either.
LUCAS: Comey also declared his innocence, said he has confidence in the federal judicial system. And he said, let's have a trial.
SIMON: Finally, does this signal anything for the second Trump term?
LUCAS: Well, look, traditionally, the Justice Department has enjoyed independence from the White House, particularly when it comes to investigations and prosecutions, because you want to be sure that prosecutions and investigations aren't driven by and don't appear to be driven by politics. Here in just the past week, we have the president openly calling for the attorney general to go after people Trump doesn't like, including James Comey. Now Comey's been indicted. So for legal observers and Justice Department veterans, this sure looks like Trump using the Justice Department to enact the campaign of retribution that he promised.
SIMON: NPR's Ryan Lucas. Thanks so much.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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