Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a federal grand jury, an extraordinary escalation in President Donald Trump’s effort to prosecute his political enemies.

Axar.az reports, citing CNN, Comey, a longtime adversary of the president, is now the first senior government official to face federal charges in one of Trump’s largest grievances: the 2016 investigation into whether his first presidential campaign colluded with Russia.

“JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Comey has been charged with giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, and he could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Both charges are connected to his September 30, 2020, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A source told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the indictment for lying to Congress is related to the FBI’s “Arctic haze” leak investigation, related to classified information that ended up in four different newspaper articles.

Appearing by Zoom, Comey testified that “he had not authorized someone else to be an anonymous source in news reports,” the indictment said. “That statement was false.”

Comey responded to the indictment in an Instagram video, saying, “Let’s have a trial. And keep the faith.”

“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent,” he added.