James Comey is facing federal charges for the third time since January.
The former FBI director, 64, was hit Monday with two new counts accusing him of leaking sensitive national defense information to the outlet reporter in October 2016. Prosecutors allege he “knowingly and wittingly” transmitted classified material and conspired to do so while still running the bureau under then-President Barack Obama.
The criminal information filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia points to an Oct. 5, 2016, Times story by Charlie Savage headlined “Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter.” Comey allegedly directed a subordinate to disclose national defense information to Savage to correct what he viewed as misinformation in an article published the day before.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote that the investigation “has uncovered evidence that Mr. Comey directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage about specific accuracy concerns related to the article, and thereby illegally transferred classified information,”.
Comey responded swiftly in a video posted to his Substack.
“Well, they’re back, again,” he said. “It would almost be funny if it wasn’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to.”
“Nothing’s changed with me,” the former FBI chief added. “I’m still innocent, and I’m still not afraid of these people and I still believe in the independent judiciary.”
The case was filed under seal by the DOJ on Oct. 5 and only became public after Comey’s legal team moved to unseal it. His attorneys have also asked the court to dismiss the charges entirely.
A Justice Department spokesperson defended the filing’s timing, stating the DOJ “filed a waiverless criminal information to toll the statute of limitations as it relates to allegations concerning former FBI Director Comey.”
“Filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals,” the spokesperson continued. “This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further.”
The charges arrived the same day a federal judge ruled Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, was illegally fired from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York last year and ordered the Trump administration to reinstate her with back pay.
This marks the third prosecution attempt against Comey since President Trump began his second term. He was indicted last September on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice, but that case collapsed when a judge found Lindsey Halligan, then U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was unlawfully appointed. In April, a federal grand jury indicted him again over an Instagram post showing seashells arranged to read “8647,” which prosecutors interpreted as a threat against Trump. That case remains pending.
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017, four months into the new administration, after refusing to pledge loyalty and pressing forward with the investigation into Russian election interference. His termination triggered the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and set off a years-long legal and political battle between the two men.
Comey is still awaiting trial in the seashell case.