Ex-FBI director James Comey has been charged with making a false statement and obstruction in a criminal case.

This comes days after US President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute Comey and other perceived political enemies.

Comey was fired months into Mr Trump’s first presidency in the middle of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, with Mr Trump and his supporters labelling the investigation a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite several government reviews showing that Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign.

The criminal case against Comey does not concern the substance of the Russia investigation.

Instead, it accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee in 2020 when he said he never authorised anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about the investigation.

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