Comey charged a third time, now over 2016 leak of classified information

Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so, in a case tied to a 2016 New York Times article. It is the third criminal case brought against him.

Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmission of national defense information and conspiracy to transmit national defense information. The case was filed under seal on Oct. 5 and made public on Monday after U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden unsealed it.

The charges stem from an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times article reporting that Yahoo had helped U.S. email surveillance by adapting a spam filter. Prosecutors allege that Comey sought to correct misinformation that had appeared in a Reuters report a day earlier and illegally passed on classified information. The charge was brought as a criminal information rather than a grand jury indictment.

E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the filing was meant to pause the statute of limitations, calling it "a widely recognized practice in federal court." Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said, "Mr. Comey will fight these charges vigorously and in the open." The defense has asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing the charges are time-barred.

It is the third criminal case against Comey. A judge dismissed the first, and in April a grand jury in North Carolina indicted him on a charge of threatening President Donald Trump over an image of seashells arranged to read "8647." Comey has maintained his innocence.

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