Comey Faces Third Federal Charges

Sealed documents revealed on Monday show that federal prosecutors have accused James Comey, the former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, of unlawfully disseminating national defense information. This marks the third set of criminal charges brought against Comey by the current administration.

An October court filing states that Comey directed colleagues to leak information to the news media. Prosecutors specifically allege that Comey ordered an individual to disclose sensitive details to a reporter for a national publication. The case involves a New York Times article published on October 5, 2016. That story described how the email platform Yahoo was ordered to scan site traffic for a computer signature tied to a terrorist organization. Prosecutors claim Comey directed Charlie Savage, the reporter on that story, to receive this sensitive information.

Comey has not been indicted in this specific case. Instead, prosecutors are seeking to charge him through a criminal information, a legal process that bypasses a grand jury. His defense attorney, Pat Fitzgerald, noted that the government had investigated the matter twice prior to this filing. Fitzgerald stated that in both previous instances, the government determined no charges should be brought. He argued that the current charges are weak because they were not approved by a judge or issued by a grand jury ten years after the original article appeared.

In a video posted to Substack, Comey described the prosecution as a campaign of political retribution. He stated, "Well, now they’re back again. It would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to." Comey maintained his innocence and expressed confidence in the federal judiciary. He also suggested that more charges may be coming, noting that the next couple of years would be difficult for critics of the administration.

The latest legal action follows two other attempts to prosecute Comey since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. In September 2025, Comey was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a legislative proceeding. That case was dismissed because the prosecutor in charge was deemed to have been unlawfully appointed. A second indictment was filed on April 28. In that case, the administration accused Comey of threatening the president by posting a photo of seashells arranged to form the message "86 47." The administration argued that "86" implies violence, while the defense countered that it is a service industry term for removing an item. That case remains ongoing.

President Trump has long sought the prosecution of Comey, whom he fired as FBI director in 2017. The dismissal occurred during an investigation into potential collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has repeatedly called that probe a hoax. In September 2025, Trump posted on social media urging then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue Comey and other critics, stating, "JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW."

Federal Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee from the US District Court in Washington, DC, is overseeing the current case. On the same day the new charges were revealed, a federal judge ruled in a separate matter that Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, had been unlawfully fired. The court ordered her retroactive reinstatement and backpay. Maurene Comey, a former assistant US attorney, had maintained that her termination was retaliation against her father.

James Comey continues to deny all accusations of criminal wrongdoing. His legal team has moved to have the latest set of charges dismissed. The former FBI director served as the bureau’s head from 2013 until his 2017 dismissal.