Justice Department Charges Former FBI Director James Comey Over Alleged 2016 Information Leak

Federal prosecutors have taken steps to bring criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of transmission of national defense information and conspiracy to transmit national defense information related to an alleged classified leak from October 2016.

Unsealed court documents reveal the charges center on an article titled "Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter" published on October 5th, 2016 in The New York Times. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak filed a criminal information alleging Comey directed staff to speak with the article's reporter, Charlie Savage, to "correct misinformation" and "thereby illegally transferred classified information".

This marks the third time the Justice Department under President Donald Trump has pursued criminal proceedings against the former FBI chief.

Responding in a video statement posted online, Comey rejected the allegations:

"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. 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."

Commenting on the development upon returning to Washington, D.C., President Trump stated:

“I don’t know too much about it. I just heard about it. I think he’s a dirty cop, James Comey, but I know nothing about it.”

Comey's legal team immediately filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the government failed to secure a grand jury indictment before the 10-year statute of limitations expired earlier this month.

Lawyers noted that two previous prosecutorial teams including past inquiries by the Justice Department inspector general and Special Counsel John Durham investigated the 2016 matter without bringing charges. Patrick Fitzgerald, an attorney representing Comey, stated the filing "purports to charge Mr Comey with crimes that he did not commit".

A Department of Justice official defended the procedural strategy in a statement:

“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. This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further.”

Legal analysts questioned the validity of using a criminal information without defense consent to bypass time limits:

• Patrick Fitzgerald (Defense Attorney): "Both times the Government determined that no charges should be brought against anyone."
• Elie Honig (Former Federal Prosecutor): “This is a bizarre, and likely improper, use of a criminal ‘information’ ’to end-run the statute of limitations,” adding, “Typically an information must be agreed to by a defendant — and Comey did not consent here. It therefore likely cannot extend the statute of limitations, which would have expired on October 5, 2026.”
• Glenn Kirschner (Former Federal Prosecutor): Characterized the motion to dismiss as having "a very good chance of being granted", describing the charges as a "revenge-fuelled attempt by Donald Trump to have his Department of Justice find something that might stick".

The filing follows two prior legal actions targeting Comey:

1. 2025 False Statements Case: Grand jury charges alleging that Comey lied to Congress were dismissed by a judge in November 2025.
2. "86 47" Social Media Case: Ongoing charges in North Carolina allege a photo of beach seashells spelling "86 47" represented a coded threat against President Trump. That trial has been delayed until early 2027.

The unsealing coincided with a federal judge ruling that the Justice Department acted illegally when it terminated Comey's daughter, Maurene Comey, from her post as a federal prosecutor in New York in July 2025. The judge ordered the government to reinstate her with back pay, concluding her dismissal was unlawfully tied to her father and perceived political affiliations.