James Comey charged with leaking national defense information

Former FBI Director James Comey is facing his third federal indictment in just under two years after the Justice Department charged him with unlawfully sharing national defense information and conspiring to disclose it, according to a court filing made public Monday.The two-count criminal indictment, filed in the District of Columbia, alleges Comey knowingly and willfully transmitted sensitive information to someone unauthorized to receive it on Oct. 5, 2016, while he was still leading the FBI.Prosecutors allege that Comey, acting through one or more co-conspirators, directed an unnamed person to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication. The three-page filing does not identify the information, reporter, publication, or alleged co-conspirators. The charges allege violations of the Espionage Act’s provisions governing unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and conspiracy. They remain allegations, and the filing does not establish Comey’s guilt.Comey denied wrongdoing in a statement posted to his Substack as news of the charges broke, calling the prosecution “an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice.”“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary,” Comey said, pledging to “stand up in court and fight the latest and whatever comes after this.”Federal law provides a special 10-year statute of limitations for the Espionage Act offenses charged against Comey. The charging document was filed Oct. 5, exactly 10 years after the alleged disclosure.Comey was previously indicted in April over an Instagram photograph showing seashells arranged as “86 47,” which prosecutors alleged constituted a threat against President Donald Trump.A separate prosecution accusing Comey of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding was dismissed in November 2025 after a judge found Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who secured that indictment, had been unlawfully appointed.The latest case also comes as former CIA Director John Brennan’s lawyers have sought to prepare for a possible indictment, asking a court to require preservation of investigative records to support a potential vindictive prosecution challenge. A judge dismissed that lawsuit Oct. 15, finding Brennan lacked standing.FEDERAL JUDGE RULES MAURENE COMEY’S FIRING BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAS ILLEGALThe charges surfaced hours after a federal judge ruled the DOJ unlawfully fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her position as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan last year. That ruling concerned her employment and was separate from the criminal allegations against her father.Comey’s new indictment also follows the prosecution of former national security adviser John Bolton, another outspoken Trump critic, who pleaded guilty in June to one count of willfully retaining national defense information. Bolton initially faced 18 counts involving the retention and transmission of sensitive material, including diary-style notes shared with relatives. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.