WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump suggested Friday that other former officials could be prosecuted after ex-FBI Director James Comey was indicted.

Trump accused Biden administration officials of having "weaponized the Justice Department," saying he hopes that others are brought up on charges.

"It's not a list, but I think there will be others,' Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a golf tournament in New York. "These were corrupt, radical left Democrats. James Comey essentially was a Democrat. He was worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey, but there will be others. Look, that's my opinion."

Comey was indicted Thursday on allegations of obstruction and making a false statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. The charges relate to Comey's testimony about Russian interference during the 2016 US presidential election, in which Trump won his first term in office.

Comey asserts innocence, says: 'Let's have a trial'

The indictment came just days after Trump issued a public demand for the Justice Department to act "now" to bring charges against Comey and others of his political foes.

For decades, under reforms enacted in response to the scandals of President Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace in 1974, it has been customary for the US president to keep a distance from the department, letting its prosecutors decide who to investigate and indict.

The Comey indictment followed Trump's ousting of the former US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Seibert, who, according to media reports, had expressed doubts internally about bringing charges against the former FBI chief, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James, after Trump appointed Seibert to lead the office.

After Seibert's ouster, the president immediately installed Lindsey Halligan to lead the office. Halligan, a White House aide and Trump's former defense attorney, was appointed to the position despite having no prior prosecutorial experience.

“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice. I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I am innocent, so let’s have a trial, and keep the faith,” Comey said in a video posted on Instagram. Comey, fired by Trump during his first term in 2017, said the indictment shows the price of opposing the president.

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs for standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees and you shouldn’t either,” he said.