Documents declassified by FBI Director Kash Patel directly link former FBI chief James Comey to false statements he made before Congress, independent journalist Catherine Herridge reported Thursday.

Further, Herridge reported that the indictment against Comey had been “ready to go,” but that former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert had been “blocking” or “slow walking” the charges. Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump named interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, removed the blocks.

Patel declassified the FBI leak investigations, codenamed "Arctic Haze," which Herridge reported show Comey orchestrated a calculated leak campaign to steer the Russia-collusion narrative and burnish his disputed leadership.

However, during 2017 congressional testimony, Comey under oath denied that he had ever leaked or authorized media leaks, under questioning by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

In 2020, under questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Comey was asked about the accuracy of his 2017 testimony, even in the face of testimony from former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who “stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it," Cruz said. 

Comey replied, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”

Herridge reported that the false-statements charge is considered the “low-hanging fruit” of the FBI’s investigations.

“Arctic Haze” also showed that Comey authorized media leaks through his friend, Columbia law school professor Daniel Richman, who held Special Government Employee status, Herridge reported. Richman met with federal prosecutors in Virginia’s Eastern District on Tuesday about Comey’s 2020 testimony before Congress, ABC News reported.