Following the indictment of former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey Thursday, the situation continues to develop. Here’s some of the latest.
As of Friday, reports indicate that his son in law Troy A. Edwards, Jr., a senior national security prosecutor, resigned from the Virginia office prosecuting Comey after the indictment was announced. CNN said it obtained a one-sentence letter Edwards wrote to U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
“To uphold my oath to the Constitution and country, I hereby resign as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the Department of Justice effective immediately,” Edwards reportedly said. He is married to one of Comey’s five children.
CNN also reported that it “spotted Edwards at the courthouse as reporters waited to see whether the grand jury would hand up an indictment Thursday.” Per the outlet, Edwards spoke to a judge privately in chambers for about 30 minutes.
“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to [President] Donald Trump,” said the former FBI director in a video posted to Instagram Thursday. “But, we couldn’t image ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either.”
He also said: “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. I hope instead, you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it, which it does.”
That someone is another one of his children, Maurene Comey, per a memo cited by CNN.
“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place,” she said after she was fired from her job as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan this summer. “A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.”
Maurene has been involved in the cases of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs as a prosecutor. She sued the Justice Department after she was let go and claimed she was fired in retaliation for being the daughter of the former FBI director. Her husband, Lucas Issacharoff, “voluntarily resigned” from the Department of Justice in May, according to the lawsuit as cited by NBC News.
Audacy noted in its coverage of the indictment Thursday that Trump has long criticized Comey, particularly over an investigation regarding claims of Russian election interference.
“Maurene Comey is one of several federal civil servants fired by the Trump administration who have filed lawsuits to reinstate their positions or seek pay in a challenge to the administration’s sweeping removal of FBI agents and other federal prosecutors without notice or conforming to legal procedures,” said CNN’s report.
Just hours before the indictment – which alleges that Comey obstructed a congressional investigation into the disclosure of sensitive information – was announced, Trump called Comey a “bad person” during a meeting in the Oval Office. In a Friday Truth Social post, he said: “Whether you like Corrupt James Comey or not, and I can’t imagine too many people liking him, HE LIED! It is not a complex lie, it’s a very simple, but IMPORTANT one. There is no way he can explain his way out of it. He is a Dirty Cop, and always has been.”
In his video response to the indictment, Comey said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system – I’m Innocent. So, let’s have a trial, and keep the faith.”