United States of America - September 2025

On 25 September, a federal grand jury indicted James Comey, a former FBI director on charges of making a false statement and obstruction of justice. Comey pleaded not guilty to the charges, which relate to testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 2020 hearing, regarding whether he had authorized an FBI official to leak information to the press. It followed President Trump’s statements on social media appearing to pressure Attorney General Pam Bondi to secure indictments against Comey and other perceived political rivals, including Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. James was subsequently indicted on 9 October on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Given Trump’s public statements and the resignation and replacement of the prosecutor overseeing both cases (apparently after expressing concern over the insufficiency of evidence), critics have widely characterized the prosecutions as politically motivated and an alarming  politicization of the Department of Justice.

Update: On 24 November, a federal judge dismissed the cases against James Comey and Letitia James, finding that the U.S. Attorney who oversaw their case had been illegally appointed. Subsequently, on 5 December, a grand jury declined to re-indict James.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice (1), U.S. Department of Justice (2), BBC, ABC News, NPR, The New York Times, CNN, New York Times, The Guardian