Federal Prosecutors Charge Ex-FBI Chief With Leaking Classified Data to Reporter

James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, faces new federal charges for transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so. The government filed the third criminal case against him on Monday, ending a period of judicial secrecy that began on October 5. Prosecutors allege that Comey acted to correct erroneous information in the press by instructing his staff to speak with a reporter about the accuracy of a specific story.

The legal action stems from a New York Times article published on October 5, 2016, written by Charlie Savage. The piece, titled "Yahoo helped U.S. wiretap by adapting its spam filter," detailed how the tech company assisted in surveillance efforts. Assistant Special Counsel Dustin Farahnak stated in a declassified document that the investigation revealed Comey attempted to fix errors in a previous Reuters report. Farahnak noted that Comey told his team to contact Savage about specific concerns, which led to the illegal transmission of classified data. The government argues the charges were filed within the legal deadline, though Comey has been a target of President Donald Trump since he led the FBI’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Comey responded to the indictment through a video posted on Substack. He described the move as an abuse of the Justice Department that warrants a public reaction. "I am still innocent," Comey said in the recording. "I am not afraid of these people and I still believe in the independence of the federal judiciary." He emphasized that nothing has changed regarding his personal stance despite the new legal pressure.

Defense attorney Patrick Fitzgerald filed a motion to dismiss the charges ten days after the case went secret. Fitzgerald argued that the ten-year statute of limitations has expired because the government did not obtain a formal indictment from a grand jury. He pointed out that the previous two cases against his client followed different paths. The first case was dismissed after a judge ruled that the Justice Department used an individual who was not a U.S. attorney to seek the grand jury action. The second case, filed in North Carolina in April 2026, involved Comey’s publication of a photograph of seashells arranged to look like the number 8647, a reference to Trump’s area code.

Fitzgerald noted that two separate teams of prosecutors examined the 2016 article during Trump’s first term and decided not to charge anyone. He stated that the current government is now filing a document that was not approved by a judge or a grand jury, attempting to charge Comey with crimes he did not commit. The former FBI chief has maintained his innocence throughout all three federal proceedings. Trump, who fired Comey in May 2017, has frequently called him a corrupt cop and a sick person, urging for his prosecution.

The current case marks the third federal action against Comey since the start of Trump’s second term. The previous dismissal and the North Carolina indictment highlight the ongoing legal disputes surrounding the former director. Fitzgerald said Comey will fight the new charges firmly and publicly. The legal team continues to argue that the process violates statutory requirements for filing charges after a decade of inactivity.