Following a federal grand jury charging former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey with obstructing a congressional investigation and making a false statement on Thursday, September 25, 2025, Comey issued his own public response through the social media platform Bluesky.
“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. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant and she’s right, but I’m not afraid, and I hope you’re not either. I hope instead you are engaged, you are paying attention and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it, because it does. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”
Prosecutors allege he lied to the Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020, when he stated that he did not authorize an FBI official to act as an anonymous source to the media. The previous U.S. Attorney for Virginia, Erik Siebert, left his position Friday, September 20, and his top deputy, Maya Song, the first assistant U.S. attorney, also left (although President Trump announced they had been fired a day later). Song had previously told DOJ that there wasn’t enough evidence to indict Comey. As such, Trump appointed his former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan as the new U.S. attorney. See Homeland Security Today’s story, Comey Indicted After Trump Removes Prosecutor Who Opposed Case, for more details.
Comey will be represented by Patrick Fitzgerald, a former U.S. Attorney in Chicago. Fitzgerald secured convictions against former Illinois governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, and was special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation that brought charges against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.