Former FBI Director James Comey pleads not guilty in 1st court appearance

(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — Former FBI Director James Comey has pleaded not guilty to both counts in a federal indictment.

He is charged with one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

The plea was entered by his attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who asked for a jury trial. 

The judge read the charges and said they carry a penalty of up to 5 years in prison with a $250,000 fine.

He asked if Comey understood the charges, and he replied, “I do, Your Honor.”

A trial date was set for Jan. 5, said the judge.

The judge asked how long the government anticipated the trial lasting, and the government said 2-3 days.

The judge said that he was prepared to move forward with a speedy trial. The government said the case was “complicated,” but didn’t appear to object to the trial date in court.

“This doesn’t appear to be a complicated case,” the judge said.

Fitzgerald agreed, saying, “We see this as a simple case.”

Comey was in court Wednesday for the first time since he was indicted last month.

Comey was joined inside the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse by his lawyers David Kelley and Jessica Carmichael. 

The government was being represented by U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan and Nathaniel “Tyler” Lemons, a prosecutor from the Eastern District of North Carolina. 

Comey’s wife and his daughter, Maureen Comey, were seen arriving at the Alexandria courthouse ahead of the proceeding.

A federal grand jury indicted Comey on Sept. 25. Comey has denied any wrongdoing and said he looks forward to a trial.

The indictment came just days after President Donald Trump publicly demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department act “now” against Comey and other political opponents.

Comey has been a longtime target of Trump’s criticism over his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump on Monday, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, called Comey a “dirty cop” and claimed it was a “simple case.”

But the Comey matter has thrown the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia into turmoil, according to sources. The previous U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, resigned over pressure from the Trump administration to bring criminal charges against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump said he fired Siebert.

Trump then handpicked Halligan, a White House aide and his former defense attorney, to replace Siebert and lead the office. Halligan presented the Comey case to the grand jury, despite prosecutors and investigators determining there was insufficient evidence to charge him, ABC News reported at the time.

Ahead of Wednesday’s arraignment, the Department of Justice added two assistant U.S. attorneys from out of state to work on the case.

ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, Peter Charalambous and Ely Brown contributed to this report.

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