James Comey Faces New US Charges Over Alleged 2016 Classified Information Leak

The United States Justice Department has launched a third criminal prosecution attempt against former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey over allegations that he disclosed sensitive national security information to a journalist in 2016.

The allegations were made public on Monday, October 26, after a court unsealed documents showing that prosecutors filed a criminal information against Comey on October 5. The document contains two counts accusing him of transmitting and conspiring to transmit national defence information to an unauthorised person, according to court records reported by Reuters, Associated Press and other US media outlets.

Prosecutors allege that Comey, who was FBI director at the time, directed staff to communicate with a reporter from The New York Times about a secret court order involving Yahoo’s scanning of emails potentially linked to a foreign terrorist organisation. The order was issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and Yahoo had been barred from publicly disclosing it.

Comey’s lawyers say the latest case concerns a newspaper report published on October 5, 2016, and argue that the matter had already been investigated twice without criminal charges being brought. One of those investigations was associated with former special counsel John Durham.

The legal dispute centres partly on whether the Justice Department’s filing can preserve the case beyond the 10-year statute of limitations. Prosecutors say filing a criminal information to pause the deadline is a recognised legal practice. Comey’s defence team argues that the law required a grand-jury indictment within the prescribed period and has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.

Comey has denied wrongdoing. In a video statement posted on social media after the documents became public, he said he remained innocent and criticised the latest prosecution, describing it as an abuse of the Justice Department. His lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, also said Comey maintained his innocence and intended to fight the allegations.

The latest case is the third criminal prosecution attempt involving Comey since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025. A previous case accused the former FBI director of making false statements to Congress, but a judge dismissed it after finding that the prosecutor who brought the charges had been unlawfully appointed.

Comey is also facing a separate case in North Carolina over a social media post featuring seashells arranged to spell “8647”. Prosecutors have treated the post as a threat against Trump, an allegation Comey has disputed.

Comey served as FBI director from 2013 until Trump dismissed him in May 2017, amid an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and possible links to Trump’s campaign. The latest case adds another chapter to the long-running conflict between the former FBI chief and the president.

The court is yet to resolve Comey’s challenge to the latest filing. The allegations remain unproven, and the legal dispute over the filing’s validity is ongoing.