WASHINGTON  — James Comey was charged Thursday with making a false statement and obstruction in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

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The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of Trump’s chief grievances: the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump and his supporters have long derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, is being weaponized in pursuit of investigations and now prosecutions of public figures the president regards as his political enemies.

It was filed as the White House has taken steps to exert influence in unprecedented ways on the operations of the Justice Department, blurring the line between law and politics for an agency where independence in prosecutorial decision-making is a foundational principle.

Comey was fired months into Trump’s first administration and has long been a top target for Trump supporters seeking retribution. Comey was singled out by name in a Saturday social media post in which Trump complained directly to Bondi that she had not yet brought charges against him.

The following evening, Trump said in a Truth Social post aimed at the attorney general that department investigations had not resulted in prosecutions. He said he would nominate Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide, to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. She has been one of Trump’s personal lawyers and does not have experience as a federal prosecutor.

“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote, referencing the fact that he himself had been indicted and impeached multiple times. “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

FILE – Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy stand as President Donald Trump shakes hands with FBI Director James Comey during a reception for inaugural law enforcement officers and first responders in the Blue Room of the White House, Jan. 22, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The office that filed the case against Comey, the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown into turmoil last week following the resignation of chief prosecutor Erik Siebert under pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

Halligan had rushed to present the case to a grand jury this week. Prosecutors were evaluating whether Comey lied to Congress during testimony on Sept. 30, 2020, and they had until Tuesday to bring a case before the five-year statute of limitations expired. The push to move forward came even as prosecutors in the office had detailed in a memo concerns about the pursuit of an indictment.

Trump has for years railed against both a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and the criminal investigation that tried to determine whether his campaign had conspired with Moscow to sway the outcome of that race. Prosecutors led by special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, but they did find that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.

Trump has seized on the fact that Mueller’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign and the Kremlin colluded, and that there were significant errors and omissions made by the FBI in wiretap applications, to claim vindication. A yearslong investigation into potential misconduct during the Russia investigation, was conducted by a different special counsel, John Durham. That produced three criminal cases, including against an FBI lawyer, but not against senior government officials.

The criminal case against Comey does not concern the substance of the Russia investigation. Rather, it accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee in his 2020 appearance when he said he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about the investigation.

Trump’s administration is trying to cast the Russia investigation as the outgrowth of an effort under Democratic President Barack Obama to overhype Moscow’s interference in the election and to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s victory.

Administration officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, have declassified a series of documents meant to chip away at the strength of an Obama-era intelligence assessment published in January 2017 that said Moscow had engaged in a broad campaign of interference at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Comey has for years been a prime Trump antagonist. Comey was a senior Justice Department official in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, was picked by Obama to lead the FBI in 2013 and was director when the bureau opened the Russia investigation.

Comey’s relationship with Trump was strained from the start and was exacerbated when Comey resisted a request by Trump at a private White House dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president. That overture so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, an action later investigated by Mueller for potential obstruction of justice.

After being let go, Comey authorized a close friend to share with a reporter the substance of an unclassified memo that documented an Oval Office request from Trump to shut down an FBI investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump and his allies later branded Comey a leaker, with the president even accusing him of treason. Comey himself has called Trump “ego driven” and likened him to a mafia don.

The Justice Department, during Trump’s first term, declined to prosecute Comey over his handling of his memos. The department’s inspector general did issue a harshly critical report in 2019 that said Comey violated FBI policies, including by failing to return the documents to the FBI after he was dismissed and for sharing them with his personal lawyers without FBI permission.

Earlier this year, the department fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She has since sued, saying the termination was carried out without any explanation and was done for political reasons.

Our picks for the best East Metro area football games on Friday:

South St. Paul (4-0) at Hill-Murray (3-1), 7 p.m.

Hill-Murray’s defense has three impressive performances outside of its loss to top-ranked Byron.

South St. Paul’s offense hasn’t been held to fewer than 30 points yet this season. Something figures to give on Friday in a game that will likely decide not only a subdistrict title, but also the top seed in Class 4A, Section 3.

Our pick: South St. Paul 27, Hill-Murray 21

Mounds View (1-3) at East Ridge (3-1), 7 p.m.

This feels like last call for Mounds View, who would dig itself a massive hole in terms of section seeding if it fell to 0-2 in subdistrict play, on top of the 1-4 record.

But East Ridge presents another tall task, as the Raptors not only present a grinding running game that wears teams down over the course of 48 minutes, but also feature a potential rising star in the receiving core in Akeed Ali, who tallied 162 yards and a score last week in a win over White Bear Lake.

Our pick: East Ridge 24, Mounds View 20

Rosemount (3-1) at Farmington (3-1), 7 p.m.

Both of these teams took on South metro powers last week, with varying results. Rosemount knocked off Shakopee to officially re-establish the Irish as a contender to make a deep Class 6A playoff run, while Farmington’s momentum was halted in a decisive loss to Lakeville South.

Were those contests signs of things to come the rest of the season?

Our pick: Rosemount 21, Farmington 7

Hudson (5-0) at River Falls (4-1), 7 p.m. at University of Wisconsin-River Falls

River Falls hung around last week against New Richmond, but ultimately succumbed to the Tigers as the Wildcats weren’t able to generate enough offensively.

Hudson presents similar problems, and looks like the type of well-rounded team that could make a deep Division-I playoff run.

Our pick: Hudson 31, River Falls 19

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A judge has found a convicted stalker not guilty by reason of mental illness for repeatedly violating a harassment restraining order two years ago by mailing greeting cards and letters to the St. Paul home of a then-midday host on 89.3 The Current.

Patrick Henry Kelly, 66, of Apple Valley, faced four counts of violating a harassment restraining order in two separate cases involving Jade Tittle, who left the alternative rock station in October 2023 due in part to Kelly, who eight years earlier stalked former Current DJ Mary Lucia.

Patrick Henry Kelly (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

In the latest charges, Kelly pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness or cognitive impairment. A stipulated evidence trial was held in June before Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher, who made her rulings last week, finding him guilty of all four counts and — following a second stipulated evidence trial last month — not guilty by reason of mental illness.

An October forensic interview of Kelly by a psychologist noted that he admitted having delusions of a romantic relationship with Tittle, but that she apologized to him through a “back-channel program,” Bartscher’s written order said.

The psychologist concluded that Kelly’s delusions “are reduced but not eliminated,” the order said, and that he was “driven by the idealization of (Tittle) and false and accelerating attributions (Tittle) loved him but could not divulge that openly.”

Kelly was convicted in June 2022 of stalking Tittle, who had filed a harassment restraining order against him in July 2021. Five months later, the restraining order was extended to 50 years. He was given a stayed 28-month sentence and four years’ supervised probation.

In his two cases involving Lucia, Kelly was sentenced to five years of probation and nine months in the county workhouse in December 2015 after pleading guilty to stalking and terroristic threats. He was given credit for 6½ months already served in custody. The convictions were reduced to misdemeanors after he successfully completed probation, which included no contact with Lucia.

‘By the tennis court’

According to the latest charges, Kelly sent Tittle two cards without return addresses between July 15 and 17, 2023. Although one card was signed “Joshua,” Tittle recognized the handwriting as Kelly’s from his letters he wrote to her in the past. In both cards, he told her that he loved her.

Tittle reported to St. Paul police on Sept. 15, 2023, that she had received an envelope mailed to her without a return address. Inside was a card and letter signed by Kelly, who mentioned that he saw her driving her car while “sitting in my car waiting for you.” He said he’d meet her “by the tennis court” at 6 p.m. on Sept. 17.

An investigator contacted Tittle the day after she made the report and she said she received another card from Kelly that was postmarked Sept. 5, but was originally delivered to her neighbor’s house. Kelly invited her to meet him at a Burnsville park, by the tennis courts.

Officers on Sept. 17 conducted surveillance at Kelly’s home and Lac Lavon Park, where he arrived at 5:45 p.m. He walked around the tennis courts “as if he were looking for someone.”

The following December, Kelly was found to be incompetent to face the charges, according to court records. A report said that Kelly was exhibiting active psychotic symptoms, specifically delusional disorder in which a person has difficulty discerning what is real and what is imagined.

Civilly committed

Kelly was civilly committed and involved in the commitment treatment process until Aug. 24, 2024, when he was found to be competent to face the charges.

The psychologist, hired by Kelly’s attorney, noted that his delusional disorder was the erotomaniac type, which “entails the conviction that another person is in love with the individual,” the judge’s order said.

The psychologist noted that “Kelly’s alleged criminal behavior “were indicative of his mental illness-driven delusional belief that beneath it all, she was not genuinely upset about his pursuit behavior. Thus, he did not know the true nature of the acts or that they were wrong.”

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Prosecutors are required by state law to file a petition for civil commitment after the not guilty verdict. Following due process and input from medical professionals, a judge will decide whether Kelly should be civilly committed.

Tittle told the Pioneer Press in October 2023 that Kelly first noticed her when she attended one of Lucia’s court appearances to support her friend. “Apparently he saw me and decided at that moment I was next for him,” she said.

Tittle, a St. Paul native who joined The Current as an overnight host in 2008, left the station in November 2023.

“It’s various reasons,” she said of her departure. “I’ve had the same job for 15 years and I’m looking for some growth. The stalker does play into it. It’s been three years now (of harassment). … I’m taking some time to focus on taking care of myself.”

Royce Lewis watched 10 of his Twins teammates get traded away at the deadline in July, and now, the third baseman can’t help but wonder if the same fate awaits him this offseason.

“You never know if it’s going to be your last at-bat here or what,” he said on Sunday, after the Twins’ finished their final home game of the season at Target Field. “You never know.”

The Twins have three more games left this season this weekend in Philadelphia. And then, they’ll kick off an offseason that figures to be an interesting one as the front office tries to reshape a roster that was decimated at the deadline and has recorded a 90-loss season for the first time since 2016. That 103-loss season led to Lewis being selected first overall in the next draft.

The thought of being traded, Lewis said, has crossed his mind.

“We don’t know what direction. I can’t control anything,” Lewis said. “I’m just here and enjoying my time with my teammates and the guys here. Because I grew up playing with all these guys so it would be a weird situation. It would almost be like, I grew up with one family and then all of a sudden, ‘Hey, I’m going to college.’”

It’s been an up and down season for the third baseman, who began the year on the injured list after straining his hamstring running to first base in a spring training game. He aggravated that same hamstring again in June and missed a couple more weeks.

Lewis talked of coming back from the injury too early to make a push with his teammates, though he didn’t specify which time. That, he thought, set him back further.

“We knew what the fortune was if we kept losing,” he said. “Then, ultimately we ended up trading away 11 guys, so once that happened at the deadline, I was really bummed that I just came back a little too soon. My body wasn’t necessarily fully trusting. My mind, my body were off, so it sets you back and then you have 75 at-bats where it’s kind of building up spring training timing again.”

Last month, the third baseman said he hadn’t felt comfortable in the box all season and his numbers have reflected that. But he’s had a month of September somewhat more reflective of the player the Twins have come to know and has become a threat on the bases, too, swiping nine bags in September.

And, importantly, he crossed the 100-game threshold for the first time in his career. Where last year he said he felt his body tiring near the end of the season, this year, he’s feeling strong as the Twins finish off their year and he heads into the offseason.

“This is my 100th game … and my body feels great,” he said on Sunday. “I feel really good and I’m looking forward to carrying that into next year. That stamina, that excitement and then go out there and start off fresh and not have any bumps in the road.”

Buxton cashes in

Byron Buxton stepped to the plate in the eighth inning on Wednesday for the 533rd time this season. By getting to that plate appearance, the Twins’ center fielder earned an extra $500,000 in incentives. Buxton made the most of that at-bat, too, hitting a three-run home run.

Buxton had already earned $500,000 for reaching plate appearance No. 502 earlier this month. With three games left, he’s not likely to reach the next bonus, which kicks in at 567 plate appearances, but there’s a decent chance the center fielder finishes in the top-10 in American League Most Valuable Player voting, which would net him another bonus. For finishing anywhere between six and 10th place in MVP balloting, Buxton would earn an extra $3 million.

Briefly

The Twins will play one final series, beginning on Friday night in Philadelphia. Joe Ryan will take the ball for the final time this season as the Twins take on Jhoan Duran, Harrison Bader, Max Kepler and the Phillies.