Comey's Lawyers Argue Statute of Limitations in Court

Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey are presenting their case in Washington, D.C., seeking to dismiss new criminal allegations that accuse him of mishandling classified information more than a decade ago. The legal team is arguing that the Justice Department failed to secure a grand jury indictment before the 10-year statute of limitations expired.

This marks the third attempt by federal prosecutors to bring charges against Comey within the past 13 months, a period that followed public calls from former President Donald Trump for the Justice Department to prosecute Comey and other political adversaries. The latest allegations surfaced after a federal judge, D.C. District Judge Trevor McFadden, ordered details of the legal dispute to be unsealed at the request of Comey's attorneys.

According to court filings, prosecutors allege that Comey broke the law in 2016 by instructing FBI staff to provide information to a New York Times reporter for an article. The article, published on October 5, 2016, was titled "Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter." Prosecutors stated that Comey directed staff to discuss specific accuracy concerns with the reporter regarding a previous Reuters article, which they claim constituted an illegal transfer of classified information.

The article in question focused on whether the Department of Justice had obtained a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to compel Yahoo to search for communications linked to a foreign terrorist organization.

Prosecutors filed the allegations against Comey via a "criminal information," a legal instrument that does not require grand jury approval. This filing was sealed on October 5.

This is not the first time Comey has faced legal challenges in recent years. In April, he was indicted in North Carolina over an Instagram post interpreted by some as a threat against the president. Comey subsequently removed the post and stated he opposes violence. His next court appearance in that case is scheduled for January. Previously, in September 2025, he was indicted on charges related to false statements and obstruction stemming from his 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. That case was dismissed on the grounds of improper appointment of the U.S. attorney who initiated it.