What happened
According to BBC News, federal prosecutors have submitted a court filing to charge former FBI Director James Comey with leaking national defence information. This marks the third occasion the Department of Justice has taken legal steps against Comey, who has long been a critic of President Donald Trump.
The three-page court filing contains limited details regarding the two counts, but Comey's legal team stated that the case involves an alleged disclosure of classified material to the New York Times in October 2016. Comey was charged in Washington DC via a criminal information, a formal document filed directly by a prosecutor without requiring grand jury approval.
Key facts
- In a video published on Substack, Comey denied any wrongdoing, maintaining his innocence and describing the prosecution as an appalling abuse of the justice system.
- Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, stated that two different prosecutorial teams previously investigated the 2016 leak during the first Trump administration and concluded no charges should be brought. Comey's legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the charges.
- Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told BBC News that the case may fall outside the 10-year statute of limitations, which could favor the defense's motion to dismiss.
- On the same day the new charges were made public, a federal judge ruled that the government illegally fired Comey's daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as a federal prosecutor in July 2025. The court ordered her reinstatement along with back pay.
Why it matters
The legal action continues a long-running dispute between Trump and Comey, who was removed from his role as FBI director during Trump's first presidency after opening an inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Comey was previously indicted in September 2025 on charges of lying to Congress, though that case was dismissed in November 2025. In April 2026, he surrendered to authorities over active charges related to an Instagram post that prosecutors claim threatened Trump's life.
Source: BBC News · Published October 27, 2026 · Photo by Theo on Unsplash