Federal prosecutors have brought a third federal charge against former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of leaking national defence information to the New York Times in 2016. Comey denies the allegations. The charge was filed in Washington DC, according to reporting by BBC World and DW.
According to a court filing reported by BBC World, the filing contains two counts. Comey’s lawyers said the case stems from an alleged disclosure of classified information to the New York Times in October 2016, while he was head of the FBI. The filing was made as a criminal information, a document a prosecutor files directly without grand jury approval.
Prosecutors allege that Comey instructed a staff member to contact a New York Times journalist to correct inaccurate information that Reuters had published the previous day, according to DW. The specific classified information involved is not described in the sources available.
In a Substack video, Comey said the charges are an "appalling abuse" of the Justice Department and that he is still innocent, according to BBC World. Al Jazeera reported that Comey is defiant in the face of the third prosecution and denies the new charges, though its account was available only as a headline and short excerpt.
Comey’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss, and no ruling has been reported. The motion turns on whether the filing meets the 10-year statute of limitations for the alleged 2016 offense. DW reports that the Justice Department says the criminal information allows it to extend that limit, and that the filing was made in early October, shortly before the 10-year deadline. Comey’s lawyers argue that federal law explicitly requires an indictment within 10 years, which the filing does not meet. BBC World quotes former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner saying the case may have exceeded the limit, giving dismissal a very good chance.
Two earlier investigations of the same disclosure closed without charges, according to Comey’s lawyers. One was led by prosecutor John Durham in 2018, and the other, in 2019, was code-named "Tropical Vortex."
The new charge follows a September 2025 false-statements case against Comey, which was dismissed after a judge found the prosecutor who brought it was unlawfully appointed. A separate case over the "86 47" Instagram post, filed in April 2026, remains ongoing. On the same day as the new filing, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, and must reinstate her with back pay.
The main gaps in the reporting are the limited detail in the filing, the lack of a Justice Department statement beyond what the filing shows, and the absence of any court document confirming the dates and procedure reported by DW and BBC. A judge must now rule on the motion to dismiss.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.