FILE - Former FBI director James Comey is sworn via videoconference before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, to examine the FBI "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress 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.

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

Trump on Thursday hailed the indictment as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!” Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, and FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime vocal critic of the Russia investigation, issued similar statements. “No one is above the law,” Bondi said.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Bondi 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 since then has remained a top target for Trump supporters seeking retaliation related to the Russia investigation. He was singled out by name in a Saturday social media post in which Trump appeared to appeal directly to Bondi bring charges against Comey and complained that Justice Department investigations into his foes had not resulted in charges.

“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!!!”

The office that filed the case against Comey, the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown into turmoil last week after the resignation of chief prosecutor Erik Siebert, who had not charged Comey and had faced pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

The following evening, Trump lamented in a Truth Social post aimed at the attorney general that department investigations had not resulted in prosecutions. He nominated as the new U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who had been one of Trump’s personal lawyers but lacked the federal prosecution experience that would typically accompany the responsibility of running one of the Justice Department’s most prestigious offices.

The two-count indictment consists of charges of making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding. Comey’s lawyer had no immediate comment.

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 but rather accuses him of having lied to Congress.

The indictment comes against the backdrop of a Trump administration effort 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.