Former FBI Director James Comey appeared in a suburban Virginia federal court Wednesday to face what analysts called flimsy charges of lying to Congress after President Donald Trump demanded the prosecution of his longtime critic.
A federal judge set a Jan. 5 trial date after the nation’s onetime top law enforcement official pleaded not guilty to two felony counts during a brief hearing in the controversial case that was filed only after Trump ousted his hand-picked U.S. attorney who had declined to pursue the charges .
“Our view was the prosecution was brought at the direction of President Trump,” said Comey defense lawyer Pat Fitzgerald, a former top federal prosecutor.
Comey, who has sparred with Trump for years, was charged over his contested testimony at a 2020 hearing in w