President Donald J. Trump on Friday reportedly praised the Justice Department’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and suggested that more of his political adversaries could soon face similar charges.
“There’ll be others,” Mr. Trump said from the South Lawn of the White House, his first public comments since the indictment was announced. “I mean, they’re corrupt. These were corrupt radical left Democrats.”
On Thursday evening, federal prosecutors charged Mr. Comey with making false statements and obstruction. Mr. Trump had long pushed for the case, describing the charges not as payback but as a long-overdue measure of accountability. “Justice,” he called it.
Mr. Trump has argued for years that figures like Mr. Comey weaponized government power against him. “They did it with me for four years,” he told reporters. “They went after me. They went after me for four years.”
The former FBI director, who authorized surveillance measures during the 2016 election and became one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest critics, struck a defiant tone after his indictment.
“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump,” Mr. Comey said in a video posted Thursday night. “My heart is broken for the Justice Department but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system. I’m innocent so let’s have a trial.”
Democrats rushed to defend him. “I can spot trumped-up charges a mile away,” said Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. “The rule of law must prevail.” Critics accused Mr. Trump of politicizing the Justice Department by urging prosecutions of his opponents.
But the president and his allies counter that Democrats set the precedent by pursuing him during his time in office. He noted his own experience of being impeached twice and indicted multiple times after leaving the White House. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In recent days, Mr. Trump has called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to widen the net. In a weekend post, he urged action not only against Mr. Comey but also against Representative Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who led his first impeachment trial, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who pursued a civil fraud case against him last year.
The Justice Department has already opened investigations into both Mr. Schiff and Ms. James over alleged mortgage fraud. They have denied wrongdoing and dismissed the probes as politically motivated.
The widening investigations have also touched Mr. Trump’s former allies. Last month, FBI agents searched the home and office of John Bolton, his onetime national security adviser who broke with him publicly, as part of an inquiry into whether he mishandled classified documents. Mr. Bolton has not been charged.
Mr. Trump, who once promised “retribution” as part of his 2024 campaign, has since tempered that language, saying instead that success itself would be the best answer to his critics. Still, he left little doubt that he views the legal reckoning for his rivals as overdue. “Justice must be served,” he said.
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