Ex-FBI director pleads not guilty to lying to Congress

Former FBI director James Comey has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges accusing him of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation.

Comey entered his plea through his lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, in court in Alexandria, Virginia, who waived a reading of the indictment and asked for a jury trial. Mr Fitzgerald added: "Our view is that this prosecution was brought at the direction of President Trump." The former FBI director is alleged to have made a false statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on 30 September 2020 by denying he had authorised an associate to serve as an anonymous source to the news media, and that he obstructed a congressional proceeding.

He denies the charges and said in a statement last month: "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." Comey was fired months into Mr Trump's first presidency, in the middle of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Fellow former FBI chief Robert Mueller took over the investigation, which found numerous contacts between Mr Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian officials, but concluded that there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy. Read more: Key excerpts from the Mueller report Mr Trump and his supporters labelled the investigation a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" used to undermine his first administration - despite several government reviews showing that Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican's campaign.

Proceedings against Comey began after the US president publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against him and other perceived adversaries. He wrote on Truth Social: "We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility...

JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!" The charges were then brought by Lindsey Halligan, Mr Trump's former personal attorney, who was installed last month as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A judge scheduled the trial to begin on 5 January.

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Illinois' attorneys failed in a legal attempt to block their deployment, which they labelled "illegal, dangerous and unconstitutional"..