WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Former FBI director James Comey, a prominent critic of US President Donald Trump, is to make his first court appearance on Wednesday to face charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

Comey's arraignment, during which he is expected to plead not guilty, is to be held at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, before district judge Michael Nachmanoff.

Comey, 64, was indicted last month on two felony counts in an escalation of Trump's campaign of retribution against the Republican president's political foes.

Appointed to head the FBI by former president Barack Obama in 2013, Comey is charged with lying to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding stemming from sworn testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020.

He is accused of falsely stating that he had not authorized another FBI employee to be an anonymous source in news reports. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump presidential campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 vote.

The charges came just days after Trump had publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and others he sees as enemies -- a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free from White House pressure.

Trump, the first convicted felon to serve as US president, hailed the indictment, saying Comey is "one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to."

Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents since taking office in January.

The 79-year-old Republican has stripped former officials of their security clearances, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.

Comey's indictment came after the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, stepped down after reportedly telling Justice Department leaders there was insufficient evidence to charge Comey.

Trump replaced Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to the president, who brought the case to a grand jury and secured an indictment.

In a video posted on Instagram following the indictment, Comey proclaimed his innocence and said "my family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump."

Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House in 2021.

The FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of a probe into mishandling of classified documents and Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Neither case came to trial, and Smith -- in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president -- dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 vote.