OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:20 AM – Friday, September 26, 2025
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey responded to his recent indictment online in a video, maintaining his innocence.
In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Comey said, “My family and I have known for years 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,” he continued, referencing what his daughter, Maurene Comey, said after she was fired as a federal prosecutor in July.
On Thursday, Comey was indicted on two counts: Perjury, or making false statements to Congress, and obstruction of justice. The indictment came days before the five-year deadline for prosecutors to bring criminal charges.
“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, which it does,” Comey added.
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President Donald Trump has long called for charges to be pressed on the Obama-era FBI director for his handling of the Russian collusion investigation that undermined Trump’s 2016 election campaign and first term in office. Trump fired Comey in his first year as president.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system,” said the former FBI director. “And I’m innocent. So, let’s have a trial and keep the faith.”
The president called Comey a “dirty cop” earlier this year in response to an Instagram post the former FBI director made. The image showed seashells on a sandy beach arranged to spell “8647,” and Comey wrote, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
With 86 being a common slang term that means to get rid of something, and 47 referencing the fact that Trump became the 47th U.S. president when he assumed office for the second time, the “code” 8647 was perceived by many as threatening to the president, who had survived two assassination attempts last year. Comey later deleted the post.
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