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The Justice Department is seeking to indict former FBI Director James Comey for perjury as the deadline to bring charges looms, Fox News has learned.
The probe into Comey centers on whether he lied to Congress during his Sept. 30, 2020, testimony about his handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Under federal law, prosecutors have five years to bring a charge, with the five-year mark occurring next Tuesday. The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES
Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Washington D.C., June 8, 2017. The Justice Department is weighing whether to bring charges for alleged lies he told lawmakers. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images, File)
“DOJ officials are close to deciding whether to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress in September 2020,” a source said. “There is a grand jury underway looking at the matter in Virginia. A decision could come any day.”
The extent of the potential charges was unclear, as was which part of his testimony could be subjected to perjury charges.
President Donald Trump has criticized Comey for years over his handling of the investigation and other matters.
“I think they’re very dishonest people. I think they’re crooked as hell,” Trump said in July about Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan. “And maybe they have to pay a price for that.”
Trump eventually fired Comey in 2017.
LISA BOOTHE POINTS TO ‘CLEAR EXAMPLE’ OF COMEY, BRENNAN’S ‘COLLUSION AND CORRUPTION’
President Donald Trump, left, said he did the country “a great service” by firing former FBI Director James Comey, right. (AP/Reuters)
Trump has argued that Brennan and Comey politicized intelligence to undermine his presidency, calling the investigation the “Russia hoax” and a “rigged witch hunt” that damaged U.S. relations with Russia.
The investigation was eventually taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, who ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department appointed another special counsel, John Durham, to investigate the FBI’s potential mishandling of the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe into alleged Trump-Russia connections.
Former FBI Director James Comey, left, testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017. Then-CIA Director John Brennan discusses his agency’s strategy in the face of emerging challenges during an event at the Brookings Institution in 2016. (Getty Images)
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The probe resulted in criminal charges against three lower-level FBI officials. Although Durham uncovered serious missteps by the bureau, he determined there was no illegal conduct by FBI leadership.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Justice Department.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Brooke Singman, and Fox News’ Peter Doocy contributed to this report.
