DOJ Files Third Federal Charge Against James Comey Over 2016 Leak

Former FBI Director James Comey faces a third federal criminal charge.

A court filing unsealed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accuses Comey of knowingly communicating information related to national defense to a person not entitled to receive it. He is also charged with conspiring with others to violate that law.

The charging document, known as an information, states that Comey directed an unnamed individual to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication. Comey’s lawyers identify the publication as The New York Times and the date of the alleged disclosure as Oct. 5, 2016.

The Department of Justice filed the information on Oct. 5 and requested that a judge seal it to protect an ongoing criminal investigation. Judge Trevor McFadden granted that request the same day. Comey’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case on Oct. 9, arguing that the 10-year statute of limitations for a grand jury indictment had expired. They accused the DOJ of filing a faulty information under seal to pause that clock.

Comey’s team asked McFadden to unseal the document on Monday, and the judge agreed. In a separate filing, his lawyers noted that two separate U.S. Attorneys investigated the alleged disclosure over the past ten years and both declined to prosecute.

Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, said in a statement that the DOJ has attempted to charge his client with a federal crime for the third time in little more than one year. Fitzgerald stated that Comey steadfastly maintains his innocence.

The new charge arrives as Comey seeks dismissal of an indictment in North Carolina federal court. That case alleges he threatened President Donald Trump’s life by posting a photo of seashells on a beach arranged to form the numbers 86 47 on Instagram. Prosecutors claim the number 86, a restaurant term for removing an item from a menu, was code for suggesting someone kill the 47th president. Comey has denied any wrongdoing in that matter.

Comey was first indicted in September 2025 in Virginia on charges of making a false statement and obstruction. That case stemmed from his Sept. 30, 2020, testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. A judge dismissed that indictment on Nov. 24, 2025, ruling that the interim U.S. attorney who obtained it had been invalidly appointed.

The unsealing of the new case came hours after a federal judge in New York ruled that the DOJ unlawfully fired Comey’s daughter, Maureene Comey, last year as an assistant U.S. attorney. In a video message on Substack, Comey said the DOJ’s actions were an appalling abuse of the department.

He added that he remains not afraid of his accusers and believes in the independent federal judiciary. Comey stated that the next couple of years will be hard for all of them and urged people to keep the faith in America.