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Former FBI director James Comey was arraigned at a Virginia federal court on Wednesday morning in his first court appearance since being indicted by the Justice Department in a naked act of political revenge by President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press reports that Comey officially entered a not-guilty plea through his attorney. He similarly professed his innocence in a video he shared reacting to the breaking news of his indictment. “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent. So, let’s have a trial and keep the faith,” he told his followers on Bluesky. His trial date is currently set for January 5, 2026.

Last month, federal prosecutors issued a two-count indictment against Comey, accusing the longtime government official of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding in relation to his 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The charges emerged after a pointed push from Trump for the prosecution of several of his political foes with the president exerting public pressure on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media.

“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

But the Justice Department’s prosecution of Comey has been troubled from the start, and new reporting suggests that the case will likely face even more significant hurdles than was previously known. ABC News reports that federal prosecutors in Virginia who investigated the allegations against Comey detailed problems with a key witness in a memo last month to U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan. Sources told ABC that the memo stated that Daniel Richman, the law professor prosecutors allege Comey authorized to leak information to the media, denied to investigators that he was ever directed to leak information to reporters and said that the ex-FBI director told him not to talk to the media at least two separate times. The memo deemed Richman’s likely testimony in the case “problematic” and said that it would lead to “likely insurmountable problems” for the prosecution.

But Halligan seemingly pursued Comey’s prosecution despite the warnings from her office’s staff, a consistent through-line of her brief tenure in office. She was appointed to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, resigned under pressure due to his hesitancy to pursue charges against Comey and New York state attorney general Letitia James, another one of Trump’s political enemies. Halligan, a former insurance lawyer, will be leading the Comey prosecution backed by a relatively thin résumé and no prosecutorial experience. Politico reports that Halligan will be joined by Nathaniel Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz, two federal prosecutors from the North Carolina U.S. attorney’s office after none of the veteran prosecutors in the Virginia office would sign on to the case.

Comey’s legal team, led by veteran federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, is expected to try to have the case tossed before a trial even begins. Lawfare reports that his attorney is expected to challenge the legality of Halligan’s appointment as well as file a motion to dismiss for selective prosecution.

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