Former FBI Director Faces Third Set of Charges Over 2016 Disclosure

Clear Facts

• The Department of Justice has charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so in connection with an alleged 2016 disclosure to The New York Times.
• Prosecutors filed the charges on October 5 using a criminal information rather than a grand jury indictment.
• Comey has denied wrongdoing and moved to dismiss the case, claiming the 10-year statute of limitations has expired.

The Department of Justice unsealed charges Monday alleging former FBI Director James Comey improperly transmitted national defense information to The New York Times in October 2016. Prosecutors claim Comey directed staff to share classified details with Times reporter Charlie Savage to correct a Reuters story about U.S. surveillance of Yahoo email accounts. The case marks the third set of criminal allegations against Comey in recent months.

“Well, 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 said in a video posted Monday to his Substack. “Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in court filings that Comey sought to correct misinformation that had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before. The investigation 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.

Comey was still serving as FBI director when the Times article was published. President Donald Trump fired him from that position several months later in May 2017.

Comey’s attorneys have moved to dismiss the charges, arguing they are barred by the 10-year statute of limitations because they are based exclusively on the October 5, 2016, alleged disclosure exactly ten years before the government’s filed criminal information.

A previous case against Comey, in which he was charged with making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation, has already been dismissed. He has also been charged over a beach photo showing seashells arranged as “86 47.” Comey has denied wrongdoing in all three cases.

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