Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper on Sunday and defended the recent indictment of former FBI head James Comey.
Tapper pressed Johnson on the indictment, asking if it was proper for a president “to publicly or privately instruct their Attorney General to prosecute a political opponent,” but Johnson pushed back.
“As a constitutional attorney and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, do you believe it’s acceptable for any president to publicly or privately instruct their attorney general to prosecute a political opponent and go as far as firing a U.S. attorney if they don’t bring charges because they don’t think the case is strong enough?” Tapper asked.
Johnson rebutted Tapper, noting that it wasn’t the president who indicted Comey, but a grand jury of his peers.
“I’m glad you brought up the principle, that is exactly what’s at issue here. James Comey lied to Congress. He took an oath. He said things to Congress that were simply not true. It’s called perjury. A grand jury … a non-partisan, non-biased grand jury that was assembled looked at the charges and they agreed. They voted to bring an indictment of James Comey — not President Trump, not the DOJ, but a grand jury,” Johnson said. “That’s how our system works. It’s a very important principle for us to apply that everybody has to subscribe to the law — even a former FBI director. And he has lots to answer for.”
Johnson added that there were “many things” over which Comey could have been indicted, but the statutes of limitations ran out.
CNN’s Jake Tapper: “As a constitutional attorney and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, do you believe it’s acceptable for any president to publicly or privately instruct their Attorney General to prosecute a political opponent and go as far as firing a US attorney if… pic.twitter.com/8fE3Fk04pi
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) September 28, 2025
Comey was indicted on Thursday by a grand jury for allegedly lying under oath.
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The indictment stems from statements the former FBI head made to Congress in September 2020 when he testified regarding his handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to the indictment. Comey’s indictment comes just days ahead of a major deadline: September 30, when the statute of limitations was set to expire on claims made by Comey during the 2020 hearing.
Comey is the first former senior administration official to be indicted in connection with the Russian collusion conspiracy and the FBI investigation into false ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.
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