Federal prosecutors in Virginia have charged former FBI Director James Comey with obstruction and making a false statement to Congress, just days after President Donald Trump publicly implored his Justice Department to quickly seek indictments of his perceived foes and ousted a U.S. attorney who resisted.

A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted Comey on Thursday on two felony charges stemming from Comey’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020 about the FBI’s investigation into links between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

The obstruction of Congress charge accuses Comey of making “false statements” at that hearing, but is silent about what they were.

The false statement charge relates to Comey’s denial at the hearing that he authorized anyone at the FBI to speak to the media anonymously about FBI investigations related to Trump or his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton. Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe told investigators with DOJ’s inspector general that Comey authorized him to talk to a reporter about an aspect of an investigation the FBI conducted into the Clinton Foundation.

In a video posted online Thursday night, the former FBI chief and onetime deputy attorney general proclaimed his innocence — and hinted at a strategy for challenging the case against him as an act of political vengeance by Trump himself.

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” Comey said. “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.”

Comey appeared to allude to the July firing of his daughter, Maurene Comey, who had been a federal prosecutor in Manhattan for nearly a decade. The indictment also prompted the resignation Thursday of Troy Edwards, a senior federal prosecutor in Alexandria who is married to another of James Comey’s daughters, three people familiar with the development said.

Edwards, deputy chief of the office’s national security section, said in a one-line resignation letter that he was quitting “to uphold my oath to the Constitution and country.”

Trump quickly reveled in the indictment of his longtime foe, declaring “Justice in America!” and calling Comey “One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to.” He closed the post with his campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again.”

Prosecutors sought the indictment of the former FBI director just before a Sept. 30 legal deadline that would have put criminal charges out of reach because the statute of limitations would have expired.

Notably, a court document released Thursday night showed the same grand jury refused to indict Comey on a second charge of making a false statement to Congress. The charge jurors balked at pertained to a statement Comey made during the hearing where he appeared to deny having read a report sent to top FBI officials in September 2016 about the Clinton campaign’s interest in using Trump’s alleged Russia ties to distract from her own legal woes.

Justice Department officials did not address the failed charge, but declared that the two felonies leveled at Comey showed justice being done. Each of the two felony charges Comey faces carries a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison.

“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X shortly after word of the charges against Comey emerged. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia the Trump administration installed Monday, signed the indictment and was the only prosecutor listed on the docket as of Thursday evening.

The case was assigned Thursday to U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee who is set to arraign Comey on Oct. 9.

“The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level,” Halligan said. “The balance of power is a bedrock principal [sic] of our democracy, and it relies upon accountability and a forthright presentation of facts from executive leadership to congressional oversight. Any intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance is a violation of professional responsibility and, most importantly, the law.”

Comey has selected as his defense attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, a longtime friend, former U.S. Attorney in Chicago and former DOJ special counsel.

“Jim Comey denies the charges filed today in their entirety. We look forward to vindicating him in the courtroom,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.

Comey’s indictment immediately triggered alarm — inside and outside the Justice Department — that Trump had effectively ordered the prosecution of a political adversary, exacting retribution against a longtime foe he blames for his own years of criminal prosecution and impeachment.

For a half century or more, presidents of both parties have worked to insulate the Justice Department from political influence in prosecutorial decisions, particularly in high-profile and politically sensitive matters. Though prior administrations have faced allegations of politicizing and weaponizing federal prosecutors, no president has so overtly pressured his attorney general to cross that rubicon — and gotten immediate results.

Trump’s intense desire to see Comey face criminal charges prompted unusual turmoil in recent days among federal prosecutors involved in the investigation. And that turmoil could make the actual case against Comey difficult to prosecute, as the former FBI director is all but certain to challenge the indictment as a selective and vindictive prosecution that a judge must throw out.

Last week, the top federal prosecutor in Virginia’s Eastern District, Erik Siebert, resigned following reports he had cast doubt on prosecuting Trump’s adversaries. The following day, Bondi appointed a local prosecutor active in Republican politics, Mary Cleary, to run the office on an acting basis.

But hours later, Trump publicly warned Bondi she was not acting quickly enough to punish his political rivals — naming Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James. And Trump urged Bondi to give his former personal lawyer Halligan, a White House aide with no prosecutorial experience, the job instead.

“What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” Trump 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!!!”

Within two days, Bondi complied and Halligan was sworn in.

Comey appeared remotely for his 2020 Senate testimony, testifying from his home in McLean, Virginia.