The United States Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey for the third time, marking a new development in ongoing federal prosecutions.
Unlike two previous instances involving grand jury indictments, prosecutors filed a two-count criminal information on October 5. This legal mechanism allows the government to lodge formal charges without securing a grand jury indictment, though prosecutors cannot bring the case to trial on these specific charges unless the defendant waives his constitutional right to a grand jury.
The newly filed documents allege that in October 2016, Comey unlawfully transmitted national security information concerning United States email surveillance to a journalist. The filing occurred exactly ten years after the date of the alleged disclosure, hitting the exact expiration point of the applicable statute of limitations.
Comey has strongly denied the accusations. In a video statement released publicly, he characterized the prosecution as an alarming misuse of federal authority, stating that the case would almost be humorous if it did not represent such a severe institutional abuse of the Justice Department.
This latest legal action follows a series of previous prosecutions since Comey was dismissed as FBI director in 2017. In September 2025, he faced an indictment alleging he lied to Congress. Earlier this spring, he was charged over an alleged threat directed at Donald Trump, based on a photograph depicting seashells arranged to spell the numbers “86 47,” referencing service industry slang for removing or rejecting someone.
The initial set of charges encountered significant legal hurdles when a federal judge ruled that the U.S. attorney who brought the case, former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, had been appointed illegally. Meanwhile, legal challenges to dismiss the second set of charges remain pending in court.
Administration officials have indicated plans to pursue a grand jury indictment on the latest allegations, though legal analysts note it remains uncertain whether the new charges will ultimately withstand judicial scrutiny.
