James Comey is now inside court, according to our reporters there, after entering through a door away from the cameras.

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

Donald Trump's comments on Comey's indictment, and his public pressure on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to secure it, might make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction in court.

"The president's social media posts and statements are a major problem for the prosecution, both legally and practically," says Jeffrey Bellin, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Before the indictment, Trump used his Truth Social platform to openly call for the prosecutions of Comey and other high-profile opponents.

When the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia refused to carry out the prosecutions and resigned, Trump installed a prosecutor close to him, Lindsey Halligan, who went on to seek the Comey indictment.

Several legal experts tell me that Trump's actions could provide an opening for Comey to ask for the case's dismissal on the grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution.

"From the outside, it looks like this prosecution was brought at the direct request of the president, over the objections of the professional prosecutors against a political opponent," Bellin said. "And this all happened in public view."

Trump denies any political motive, saying the prosecution was about "justice."

Is this what transparency looks like? For Trump supporters, it ispublished at 14:40 BST

14:40 BST

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent, reporting from court

For years, Trump deplored what he called Biden’s “weaponization” of the Department of Justice (DoJ), claiming the investigations and prosecutions brought against him were political persecution.

Yet he now stands accused of the same thing.

His supporters reject the accusation there is a double standard, moving the goalposts to argue that at least the president has been transparent about what he’s doing.

But the stunning thing about that transparency is, by openly calling for his foes to be prosecuted, he is destroying the barrier that is meant to exist between the DoJ and the president.

As we've just been reporting, Comey's family - including wife Patrice Failor and daughter Maureen Comey - are attending court today.

We've just received pictures of them from earlier as they waited in a queue to get inside.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from court

There is less than an hour to go until the hearing is due to start, and there are a few lone protesters mingling among the journalists outside.

A police car with the Homeland Security logo on it has just pulled up outside and reporters have gone in.

Comey's wife and daughter have also entered the building.

Today's case is the culmination of a long-running feud between the president and former FBI director. Click watch below to learn how we got here.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter

Bill Christeson, who is outside court holding a sign reading “show trial”, tells me he arrived here four hours before the arraignment is due to start.

“I don't know whether this is a Russian-style show trial or an American-style reality TV show,” he says. “It's probably a bit of both.”

He likens the case against Comey to something that would happen under an authoritarian regime.

“Dictators want to make sure they get rid of people that are inconvenient to them,” he says.

“They hold show trials, and they make up all sorts of excuses to try people."

Referring to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in custody in February 2024, he says: "I'm not claiming that Comey is [Alexei] Navalny, but this feels a lot like we are in Russia."

Why Comey charges are different to Trump investigationspublished at 14:10 BST

14:10 BST

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent, reporting from court

Trump and his supporters say he’s only doing what happened to him under Biden: endless investigations and prosecutions.

But the huge difference is that Biden never publicly called on the Department of Justice to go after Trump as he has done with Comey, and there was no evidence he pressured the department behind closed doors.

Nor did Biden appoint his personal lawyer to bring charges.

A special prosecutor - an independent investigator - was appointed in both of Trump's federal indictments.

The former FBI director posted a video to Instagram on the evening he was indicted, asserting that he is innocent and comparing Trump to a "tyrant".

"My family and I have know for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump," he said. "We will not live on our knees.

"He said that "fear is the tool of a tyrant", and that he is not afraid.

Though his "heart is broken" for the Department of Justice, he said he still has faith in the judicial system.

"I'm innocent," he said. "So let's have a trial.”

The first count accuses the former FBI director of making "false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the United States Government" when he testified during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on 30 September 2020.

The alleged false statement relates to telling a senator on the committee that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports" regarding an FBI investigation, believed to be the one into whether Russia meddled with the 2016 US election.

The second count, obstruction of a congressional proceeding, alleges that Comey "did corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which an investigation was being had before the Senate Judiciary Committee by making false and misleading statements" before that committee.

A brief hearing with far-reaching consequencespublished at 13:53 BST

13:53 BST

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent, reporting from court

This hearing will be brief, and probably last only a few minutes. But the impact will be far-reaching. Today is seen as a key moment in President Trump's efforts to make good on his promise to go after his political enemies.

He has never forgiven James Comey for triggering an investigation into links between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign team - even though no criminal conspiracy was ever uncovered. The sequence of events that has gotten us to this moment is extraordinary. Trump publicly urged the Department of Justice to prosecute Comey, even appointing a personal lawyer who works mainly in insurance in order to bring the charges.

We'll have to see how the legal process plays out for Comey, who has been accused of lying in a congressional testimony in 2020. But we can be sure that the spectacle of him being appearing a in court will hugely matter to Trump.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from court

The sun had barely risen on this dewy Wednesday morning when a few dozen people queued outside the Albert V Bryan US Courthouse in Virginia, near Washington DC.

In just over an hour's time, former FBI boss James Comey will walk through the doors here to be read the criminal charges against him, accused of perjury for a congressional testimony he gave in 2020.

President Donald Trump has long called for Comey’s prosecution, after he led an investigation into alleged pro-Trump Russian election interference in 2016.

Today marks a historic step, as the former head of the nation's top law enforcement agency will enter his own plea of guilty or not guilty.

Image source, Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Comey was the FBI Director for nearly four years, from 2013 to 2017.

He was fired about four months into Donald Trump’s first term as US president.

Comey played a dramatic and controversial role in the closing stages of the 2016 election when he announced, a week before the vote, that the FBI had reopened an investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.

He was criticised first by Democrats for the timing, then by Republicans when he said a week later that no charges would be brought.

As FBI director, he led an investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Trump administration first claimed Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation rendered him no longer able to lead the bureau.

Trump contradicted this, calling him a "showboat" in a TV interview and saying he was thinking of the "Russia thing" when he made the decision to sack him.

Since leaving government, Comey has been highly critical of the Trump administration.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Live reporter

Former FBI Director James Comey is being arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia today - his first appearance in court since his indictment last month.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Comey - who has been a frequent political target of Donald Trump - in September with one count of making false statements and another of obstruction of justice.

Both charges relate to statements Comey made to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, when he was questioned about his handling of the DoJ’s 2016 probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails and about an investigation into pro-Trump election interference by Russia.

There are no cameras allowed in federal court, but our reporters inside will bring us all the details of how the charges are formally presented to Comey, who will enter a guilty or not guilty plea. Comey has maintained his innocence and said "let’s go to trial" in a video statement following the indictment.

In the lead-up to the indictment, Trump publicly called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute his political adversaries, including Comey, in what critics have called a blatant weaponisation of the DoJ. But the administration says this move shows that "no one is above the law".

Stick with us - we'll bring you updates, analyses, and expert commentary from court and beyond.