Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey is facing a third set of criminal charges filed under the administration of United States President Donald Trump. Sealed documents revealed Monday that the administration has accused Comey of two counts related to the unlawful dissemination of national defense information. Comey, a prominent critic of the president, has not been indicted in the case and has continually denied any wrongdoing. This development marks the third time the Trump administration has sought to bring a criminal case against the former FBI official since the president returned to office in January 2025.
According to an October court filing, prosecutors allege that Comey directed FBI colleagues to leak sensitive information to the news media. The filing states that the defendant directed one or more co-conspirators to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication. The charges specifically stem from an October 5, 2016, article published by written by reporter Charlie Savage. That report detailed how the email platform Yahoo was ordered to scan traffic on its site for a specific computer signature allegedly linked to a terrorist organization. Prosecutors claim Comey directed the sensitive disclosure for that story.
In a video published on the online platform Substack, Comey denounced the prosecution as an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice. He maintained his innocence and expressed continued confidence in the independent federal judiciary. Noting that Trump is only midway through his second term, Comey suggested that he anticipates further legal challenges ahead.
Comey’s defense lawyer, Pat Fitzgerald, criticized the government’s approach, pointing out that prosecutors are utilizing a criminal information filing rather than seeking an indictment from a grand jury. Fitzgerald noted that the matter was previously investigated twice by the government, with officials determining on both occasions that no charges should be brought against anyone. He emphasized that the information was filed ten years after the article’s publication without approval from a grand jury or a judge.
The case is being overseen by Federal Judge Trevor McFadden of the US District Court in Washington, DC, who is a Trump appointee. Trump previously fired Comey from his post as FBI director in 2017 during his first term, amid an investigation into potential collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign—a probe Trump has repeatedly called a hoax.
Following Trump’s second inauguration in 2025, the administration pursued multiple critics of the president. In September 2025, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media to investigate Comey, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Days later, on September 25, 2025, Comey was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a legislative proceeding, though that case was ultimately dismissed because the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was found to be unlawfully appointed. A second indictment followed on April 28, accusing Comey of threatening the president after he posted a social media photo of seashells arranged to spell ’86 47’—a reference to Trump as the 47th president, with prosecutors arguing that ’86’ implied violence.
