Prosecutors Charge Ex-FBI Chief With Leaking Classified Data to Reporter

Federal prosecutors charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting and conspiring to transmit information related to national defense. The new indictment marks the third federal criminal case filed against Comey during the current administration. The charges stem from events that occurred in October 2016, exactly ten years before the government unsealed the case on October 5, 2026.

The legal dispute centers on a New York Times article published by Charlie Savage on October 5, 2016. The piece reported that Yahoo had helped United States surveillance of email communications by modifying its spam filter. According to the government, Comey sought to correct factual errors in a prior Reuters report by instructing staff to contact Savage. Assistant Special Counsel Dustin Farahnak stated that this communication resulted in the illegal transmission of classified information.

Comey’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the charges ten days after they were placed under seal. Their primary argument relies on the statute of limitations for the offenses charged. Defense attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asserted that the government had a ten-year window to secure a formal indictment from a grand jury. Because the current filing is a complaint rather than a grand jury indictment, Fitzgerald argued the case has prescribed and must be thrown out.

The prosecution rejects the defense’s interpretation of the law. Prosecutors maintain that the charges were filed within the legal deadline. They contend that the defense is misapplying the relevant statutes regarding the initiation of criminal proceedings. The government’s position is that the timeline of the 2016 disclosure fits within the allowable period for bringing the case to light.

Comey responded to the new charges in a video posted on his Substack platform on Monday. He described the move as an abuse of power by the Department of Justice. “I’m still innocent. I’m not afraid of these people and I still believe in the independence of the federal judiciary,” Comey said in the video. He noted that while the repeated legal actions might be amusing, the situation represents a serious breach of institutional norms.

This is the third criminal case brought against Comey since the current president began his term. The first case was dismissed by a judge after the Department of Justice used a prosecutor who was not a United States attorney to seek an indictment that was never presented to a grand jury. Fitzgerald said that case was dismissed quickly and correctly.

The second case emerged on April 28, 2026, in North Carolina. Prosecutors accused Comey of threatening the president by publishing an image of seashells arranged to form the number 8647. Comey has maintained his innocence in all three instances. Fitzgerald noted that two different teams of prosecutors had previously investigated the 2016 article during the prior administration and determined no one should be charged.

Fitzgerald emphasized that the government is now charging Comey with crimes he did not commit, ten years after the original publication. He stated that Comey will fight the charges publicly and firmly. The defense plans to rely on the procedural arguments outlined in their recent court filings to challenge the validity of the current indictment.

Comey served as FBI director when the New York Times article was published. President Trump removed him from that position in May 2017, following the start of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump has frequently called for Comey’s prosecution, labeling him a corrupt police officer. The latest filing continues the pattern of legal action against the former director.