Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged for a third time by the Justice Department, which alleges he transmitted information relating to national defense to an individual not entitled to receive it. The charges stem from Comey's alleged direction to staff to speak with New York Times reporter Charlie Savage about accuracy concerns regarding a Reuters article.
The case, which has been under seal since October 5, exactly 10 years after the story's publication, was unsealed on Monday. The article in question, titled “Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter,” detailed government investigations into email surveillance. Federal prosecutors contend that Comey illegally transferred classified information by directing his staff to disclose specifics to Savage.
The Justice Department stated on social media that filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a recognized practice approved by multiple circuit courts. The department added that this is an ongoing investigation and declined further comment.
Under the current process, the DOJ must present the charges to a grand jury for an indictment, as the initial filing was made through a criminal information without a grand jury indictment. Comey's legal team has argued that the case should be dismissed due to the statute of limitations having expired before the charges were formally brought.
Comey has been a frequent target of President Donald Trump's criticism since the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Last year, Trump's Justice Department charged Comey with lying to Congress about authorizing leaks to the media, a charge he pleaded not guilty to, and which was subsequently dismissed. Earlier this year, he faced a separate federal case with charges of threatening Trump by arranging seashells to display the numbers "86 47," to which he also pleaded not guilty.
In a video posted to Instagram, Comey addressed the new charges, stating, "Well, they're back, again. It would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to." He asserted his innocence and his belief in an independent judiciary.
The unsealing of this complaint occurred on the same day a judge ruled that Trump's dismissal of Comey's daughter, a former federal prosecutor, was unlawful. Additionally, House Democrats released a report detailing an accusation of rape against Trump in 1993.