An FBI agent has reportedly been suspended because they refused to participate in a “perp walk” of the bureau’s former director, James Comey, according to US media reports.
The agent was suspended for insubordination, according to the BBC’s news partner CBS, after the agent found the plan to be inappropriate.
Mr Comey was indicted in Virginia on two federal charges days after Donald Trump called on law enforcement to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries, including Mr Comey.
FBI leadership has discussed sending “large, beefy” agents in Kevlar vests to bring Mr Comey to his court arraignment in Alexandria next week, CBS reports. The BBC has reached out to the FBI.
During a perp walk, law enforcement publicly escort a person accused of a crime as they are transported outside a police station or courthouse, usually in view of media cameras. The practice is common in high-profile cases in the US.
Mr Comey is set to appear in court on 9 October to be arraigned on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. This is when his charges will be formally read out to him in court.
Mr Comey is accused of lying to a Senate committee in 2020 about whether he authorised a leak to the media of classified information.
He led the FBI during a tumultuous time, when the bureau was investigating two high-profile matters: pro-Trump election interference by Russia in 2016 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
He has denied the criminal allegations and said he has “great confidence in the federal judicial system”.
If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison.
Trump fired Mr Comey early into his first term in office in 2017 as the FBI was investigating Russian interference, a probe that later found the Trump campaign did not coordinate with the Kremlin in the election. Mr Comey has been a target of Trump’s ire since that time.
The charges against Mr Comey were filed just days before the five-year statute of limitations would have expired and days after the president appointed a new top prosecutor to the region – Lindsey Halligan, who previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney.
Trump appointed Halligan after expressing frustration that “nothing is being done” to his political adversaries.
In a public post on social media, he called on US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Mr Comey along with New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who oversaw his first impeachment trial.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said in the post.
It’s unclear if the plans to bring in Comey with FBI agents will move forward. His attorneys were reportedly planning to travel with Mr Comey to his court arraignment – a more common move for a non-violent criminal case.
The BBC has reached out to his attorneys.
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