Prosecutors allege a 2016 national-defence disclosure and conspiracy. Comey denies wrongdoing and asks the court to dismiss the case filed without a grand-jury indictment.
The US Justice Department has filed two criminal charges against former FBI director James Comey, alleging that he unlawfully disclosed national-defence information and conspired with others to disclose it. Fox News reported the filing on October 26.
The allegations concern an incident about a decade earlier. Prosecutors allege that, on or about October 5, 2016, Comey knowingly and willfully communicated national-defence information to someone not entitled to receive it. Comey denies wrongdoing.
This is the Justice Department’s third attempt to prosecute Comey. An earlier case accusing him of lying to Congress was dismissed, while a separate case stemming from his social-media post showing seashells arranged as “86 47” remains pending.
Prosecutors filed the two counts in the US District Court for the District of Columbia through a criminal information—a formal charging document brought by prosecutors rather than an indictment issued by a grand jury.
The Justice Department said it filed the information to pause the statute of limitations—the legal time limit for bringing charges—and preserve the allegations while its investigation continued, and that this practice is widely recognised in federal courts and has been approved by multiple federal appeals courts.
Comey’s lawyers challenge the filing. They argue that prosecutors cannot move forward with the case without first obtaining a grand-jury indictment.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden held an emergency, closed-door hearing on October 9 after Comey’s lawyers asked him to dismiss the case and make the proceedings public. McFadden granted the request to unseal the case.
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In an October 26 social-media post, Comey said he remained innocent and called the action an “appalling abuse of the Department of Justice,” pledging that his family and legal team would fight the case in court.
Comey’s motion to dismiss still awaits McFadden’s ruling; the unsealing order did not resolve it. Whether or when prosecutors will seek a grand-jury indictment remains unclear.
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