President Donald Trump said Friday he hopes former FBI Director James Comey is not the last official indicted over what he described as the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. His comments came one day after Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice.
Speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for the Ryder Cup in New York, Trump was joined by his granddaughter, Kai Trump. Asked whether others might face indictments, Trump replied:
“It’s not a list, but I think there’ll be others. I mean, they’re corrupt. These were corrupt, radical left Democrats, because Comey, essentially … he’s worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey.”
Trump emphasized that his belief is rooted in how the DOJ was used under past leadership:
“They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history. What they’ve done is terrible, and so I hope, frankly, I hope there are others because you can’t let this happen to a country.”
Comey’s indictment centers on testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020. During that hearing, he denied authorizing leaks related to FBI investigations into Trump and Hillary Clinton. However, a 2018 DOJ inspector general report revealed that Comey’s then-deputy, Andrew McCabe, stated Comey had authorized him to leak information. The same report also noted McCabe made “multiple false or misleading statements” himself.
Trump on Friday accused Comey of outright dishonesty:
“He didn’t say, ‘Well, in my opinion.’ He didn’t do a lot of things that maybe he should have, but I don’t think he could because he lied. That was a very important question that he was asked, and he wanted to be specific. He didn’t think he’d get caught.”
Comey faces up to five years in prison if convicted. The indictment has fueled debate over accountability for former federal officials, with Trump and his allies framing it as just the beginning of a broader reckoning.
