Justice Department Files New Charges Against James Comey
The administration seeks to toll the statute of limitations on a 2016 leak, prompting legal challenges from the former FBI director.
By Rosa Wojcik ·
James Comey, the former FBI director, faces a new criminal charge from the Trump administration. The Justice Department filed a document on Monday to extend the legal deadline for prosecuting a classified information leak. Comey's legal team immediately challenged the move, arguing it falls outside the permitted time limit.
The government filed what is known as a criminal information on October 6, 2016, according to newly unsealed court documents. This filing occurred exactly ten years after the underlying event. The department stated this action tolls the statute of limitations, a practice it described as widely recognized in federal courts. A spokesperson for the department said the investigation is ongoing and that the agency would not comment further.
The charges relate to an October 2016 New York Times report. The article detailed a secret court order requiring Yahoo to scan emails for links to a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors claim Comey sought to correct misinformation from a Reuters report the day before the Times story ran. They allege he directed staff to speak with a journalist, thereby illegally transferring classified material. The specific statute of limitations for this offense is ten years.
Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey's attorney, said the department has attempted to charge his client three times in just over a year. Fitzgerald noted that prosecutors previously investigated this same disclosure in 2017 and 2019. A 2018 memo by prosecutor John Durham recommended no charges. A second investigation in 2019, codenamed Tropical Vortex, closed in 2020 without charges. Fitzgerald argued that an information does not satisfy the statutory requirement for an indictment within the ten-year window.
Comey responded to the news in a video statement. He called the action an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice. He stated that he remains innocent and not afraid of his accusers. He expressed his belief in an independent federal judiciary. His lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss the information, a request that is currently pending.
This latest move intensifies the administration's legal actions against Comey. He has faced two other criminal cases since President Trump returned to the White House. One case, accusing him of lying to Congress, was dismissed after a judge found the prosecutor was illegally appointed. A second pending indictment charges him with threatening Trump through an Instagram photo. A federal judge ruled on Monday that the firing of Comey's daughter, Maurene, from her Justice Department role last year was illegal.
Comey served as FBI director from 2013 until Trump fired him in May 2017. He was appointed by President Obama and had previously served in the George W. Bush administration. The relationship between Comey and Trump deteriorated after Comey resisted a request for personal loyalty during a private dinner. Trump fired Comey during the initial phase of the Russia investigation. Comey published a memoir in 2018 that criticized Trump, and the president has repeatedly called for treason charges against the former director.
The new filing adds to a series of investigative actions taken by the department ahead of the midterm elections. The legal battle over the validity of the criminal information will determine if the case proceeds to a grand jury or is dismissed.
