Examining James Comey’s 2020 Testimony at the Heart of His Indictment

Politics|The Testimony at the Heart of the Comey Indictment, Examined

At the center of the Trump administration’s indictment of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, is testimony he delivered before Congress in September 2020. But the details of the accusation against him remain murky because the indictment is extremely sparse. It was filed by a novice prosecutor installed days ago by President Trump to lead the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor refused to bring the case.

Here is a closer look at the indictment that the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to Mr. Trump, obtained from a grand jury, along with a proposed charge the jury rejected.

What are the charges against Mr. Comey?

The indictment charges Mr. Comey with one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstructing a congressional proceeding.

The false statement charge asserts that in appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, 2020, Mr. Comey told a U.S. senator that he “had not ‘authorized someone else at the F.B.I. to be an anonymous source in news reports’ regarding an F.B.I. investigation concerning” an unnamed person. But in fact, the indictment says, Mr. Comey had authorized someone to do so.

The obstruction charge is even vaguer. It asserts that Mr. Comey made “false and misleading statements” before the committee, but offers no details.

What is the exchange at issue?