Federal Prosecutors File Third Case Against Comey

Federal prosecutors filed a third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey on Monday, charging him with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so.

The charges stem from events in October 2016, when the New York Times published an article by Charlie Savage. The piece stated that Yahoo had helped the U.S. government monitor emails by modifying its spam filters. According to court documents, Comey instructed his staff to contact Savage about specific concerns regarding the accuracy of the information, which had also appeared in a Reuters report.

Special Deputy U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak stated in a declassified document that the investigation revealed Comey tried to correct erroneous information in the press. Farahnak argued that this communication led to the illegal transmission of classified information. The case has been under judicial secrecy since October 5, 2026.

Comey responded to the news in a video shared on Substack. He described the action as a gross abuse of the Department of Justice. "I am still innocent," Comey said in the recording. He added that he does not fear the prosecutors and believes in the independence of the federal judiciary.

Defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charges ten days ago. They argue the case has expired because the government had ten years to file a formal indictment with a grand jury. The alleged disclosure occurred on October 5, 2016, exactly ten years before the government presented the current charges. The defense contends that because the document is an information rather than a grand jury indictment, the statute of limitations has run out.

Prosecutors counter that the charges were filed within the legal timeframe and that the defense is misinterpreting the relevant statutes. This is the third case against Comey during President Donald Trump’s second term. The first case was dismissed by a judge. The second case arose in April 2026 in North Carolina, where Comey was indicted for threatening Trump by publishing a photo of seashells arranged to look like the number 8647.

Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, said the first case was dismissed because the Department of Justice used a person who was not actually a U.S. attorney to seek a formal indictment. Fitzgerald noted that two separate teams of prosecutors investigated the Yahoo article during Trump’s first term and determined no charges were needed. He stated that the government is now charging Comey with crimes he did not commit based on a ten-year-old media correction.

Fitzgerald said Comey will fight the new charges vigorously and publicly. The next step in the legal process will depend on the judge’s decision regarding the defense’s motion to dismiss.