Lisa Murkowski speaks out after Comey indictment
- - Lisa Murkowski speaks out after Comey indictment
Sarah FortinskySeptember 30, 2025 at 3:24 AM
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a moderate Republican, raised questions on Monday about the independence of the Justice Department, pointing to the “political pressure from the White House” that preceded former FBI Director James Comey’s indictment.
“The Department of Justice has long been insulated from presidential administrations to protect public trust in the rule of law,” Murkowski said in a post on the social platform X.
“But that independence is called into question when overt political pressure from the White House leads to unusual personnel changes and criminal charges filed just days after the President calls for them.”
Murkowski, who has at times criticized President Trump in the past, stressed the importance that Comey’s case be handled “free from political interference,” for the sake of U.S. democracy.
“Former FBI Director James Comey, like any American, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial,” she wrote in her post. “As the legal process moves forward, I expect the DOJ to act in accordance with the Constitution and federal law, and to demonstrate that this case is being handled free from political interference.”
“The strength of our democracy rests on the public’s trust in equal justice under law. If Americans come to believe that federal prosecutions are driven by politics rather than facts and evidence, the damage will be difficult to undo,” Murkowski added.
A federal grand jury indicted Comey on Thursday on charges of making a false statement, as well as another for obstruction of a congressional proceeding in connection with testimony he gave before the Senate in 2020. Comey has maintained his innocence, stating that he never knowingly gave false testimony before Congress.
Trump has long called for charges against Comey, whom he blames for the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia in the 2016 election — something he has repeatedly decried as a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.”
On Friday, Trump said he hopes “there are others” who will face charges, accusing Democrats of previously “weaponizing the Justice Department like nobody in history.”
The charges came after Trump appeared to explicitly pressure his attorney general to pursue cases against Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The indictment also came after Trump ousted a U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, who declined to bring charges against James. Siebert was also investigating Comey before he was ousted, but did not bring charges against him, reportedly facing roadblocks in that investigation.
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Source: “AOL Politics”
