Comey

By Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer | The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -The Justice Department is preparing to ask a grand jury as soon as Thursday to indict former FBI Director James Corney on allegations that he lied to Congress as prosecutors approach a legal deadline for bringing charges, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Officials are hoping to file the case in the Eastern District of Virginia days after President Donald Trump appealed to his attorney general to charge Corney and other perceived political adversaries, and following Trump's replacement last week of the office's top prosecutor with a White House aide who had served as one of his personal lawyers.

Prosecutors have been evaluating whether Corney lied to lawmakers during his Sept. 30, 2020, testimony related to the investigation into ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The five-year statute of limitations for bringing a case would be next Tuesday, but the Justice Department is expected to seek an indictment before a grand jury before then, said the two people, who were not authorized to discuss an investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

The push to move forward comes even as prosecutors detailed in a memo concerns about proceeding with seeking an indictment, one of the people said. Corney's lawyer declined to comment Wednesday and said he had not heard any updates from the Justice Department.

If prosecutors are successful in obtaining an indictment, Corney would become the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of the president's chief grievances - the long-concluded investigation into Russia's election interference that Trump and his supporters have long derided as a "hoax" and "witch hunt" despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow meddled on his campaign's behalf in 2016.

Any criminal case would almost certainly deepen concerns that the Justice Department under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, is beingweaponized as it pursues investigations of public figures the president regards as his adversaries.

Corney, who was fired as FBI director by Trump months into his first administration, has long been a top target for Trump supporters seeking retribution. Corney was singled out by name in a social media post Saturday night in which Trump complained directly to Bondi that she had not yet brought charges against him,

The office investigating Corney was thrown into turmoil last week following the resignation of its U.S. Attorney, Erik Siebert, amid Trump administration pressure to bring charges against another of the president's foes, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.