Prosecutors' memo to new US attorney found no probable cause to charge James Comey: Sources

Source: ABC News

September 25, 2025, 1:19 PM


After a two-month investigation, federal prosecutors in Virginia were unable to gather sufficient evidence to support bringing criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress, sources tell ABC News.

The prosecutors earlier this week summarized their findings -- that probable cause does not exist to secure an indictment, let alone a conviction at trial -- in a detailed declination memo for Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump's newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, sources said.

Nevertheless, sources say Halligan plans to ask a grand jury in the coming days to indict Comey, escalating Trump's unprecedented directive to prosecute some of his political adversaries. "I just want people to act, they have to act, and we want to act fast," Trump said on Saturday after directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff.

A former insurance lawyer turned White House aide with no prosecutorial experience, Halligan has been advised by career prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office that seeking the charges would violate DOJ policy, raise serious ethical issues, and risk being rejected by the grand jury, sources said. She plans to pursue an indictment anyway, carrying out the clear mandate she received when she was installed into the position over the weekend, sources said.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/prosecutors-memo-new-us-attorney-recommended-plans-charge/story?id=125925246