The Justice Department on Monday charged former FBI Director James Comey with two counts involving national defense information, the third criminal case the administration has brought against him since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.1,2,3,4
The charges were filed as a criminal “information” rather than through a grand jury, a method Comey’s lawyers say makes the case legally invalid. The documents were unsealed Monday in federal court in Washington. Comey, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not been indicted in the case.1,3,4
Prosecutors accuse Comey of “knowingly and wittingly” transmitting national defense information and of conspiring to do so, according to the filing. It alleges that Comey “through one and more co-conspirators directed Individual #1 to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication,” in violation of federal law. The alleged conduct took place on Oct. 4 and 5, 2016, when Comey was head of the FBI under President Barack Obama.2,3
The filing ties the case to an Oct. 5, 2016, article in The New York Times headlined “Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter,” written by reporter Charlie Savage. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in a filing, “The United States’ investigation has uncovered evidence that former FBI Director, James B. Comey, sought to correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before.” He added, “The investigation has uncovered evidence that Mr. Comey directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage about specific accuracy concerns related to the Reuters article, and thereby illegally transferred classified information.”2
Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, said the charges related to the October 2016 article, which he said prosecutors had already investigated. “Ten years after the article was published, the government filed an ‘information’ against Mr Comey that was not approved by a judge nor issued by a grand jury,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “It purports to charge Mr Comey with crimes he did not commit.”3
In a court filing unsealed Monday, Comey’s lawyers argued that the case should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired and the matter had twice been investigated without a finding that charges should be filed. They also argued that the law required an indictment, not an information, within the 10-year limitations period. The documents were unsealed after Comey’s lawyers filed a motion asking the court to do so.3,2
A Justice Department spokesperson said the department “filed a waiverless criminal information to toll the statute of limitations as it relates to allegations concerning former FBI Director Comey.” The spokesperson added, “Filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals.”2
The Guardian wrote that the use of an information appeared to be an effort to bring charges before the 10-year statute of limitations expired. The Justice Department described its filing as a step to toll that statute. The Associated Press described the case as one in which the government is trying to prosecute Comey for what it calls disclosing classified information, while the charging papers refer to national defense information.3,2,1
In a video posted to his Substack, Comey said, “Well, they’re back, again.” He added, “It would almost be funny if it wasn’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to.” Comey has described the administration’s attempts to prosecute him as a campaign of political retribution. “Nothing’s changed with me,” he said. “I’m still innocent, and I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”2,4
The new case follows an indictment last September on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice, which was dismissed after a judge ruled that Lindsey Halligan, then the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had been unlawfully appointed. In April, Comey was indicted on charges of threatening to kill Trump over a May 2025 Instagram post of seashells arranged to read “8647.” He is still awaiting trial in that case, which was brought in federal court in North Carolina. Legal experts quoted by the Guardian have called the seashell case thin.2,3
On the same day, a U.S. district judge ruled that Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, had been unlawfully fired last year from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate her and provide back pay.2
The charging papers do not name Individual #1, and they provide few details about what Comey is alleged to have leaked. According to the Guardian, prosecutors will eventually have to have the charges approved by a grand jury. The Justice Department said the investigation remains open. “This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further,” a spokesperson said.3,2
Comey, noting that Trump is only midway through his second term, suggested in the video that more charges could follow. “The next couple years are going to be hard for all of us,” he said. “It’s really important that we stand straight and keep the faith in America.”2,4
