Prosecutors Charge James Comey in Decade-Old Email Leak Case

Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so. The new case marks the third federal prosecution brought against Comey during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The charges stem from a 2016 article in The New York Times that claimed Yahoo aided U.S. email surveillance by adjusting its spam filter. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in a filing unsealed on Monday that the investigation found evidence Comey directed staff to speak to reporter Charlie Savage about accuracy concerns. Farahnak stated that Comey sought to correct misinformation that had appeared via Reuters the previous day and thereby illegally transferred classified information.

Defense attorneys argue the case is time barred. They contend that both counts rely exclusively on the alleged disclosure from October 5, 2016, which occurred exactly ten years before the government filed the criminal information. Their motion to dismiss, filed ten days ago, asserts that the government had ten years to obtain a grand jury indictment. Because the current filing is a criminal information rather than an indictment, they argue it should be tossed out under statute-of-limitations rules.

Comey has not been indicted in this specific case. He cannot be tried on the criminal information alone unless he waives the requirement for an indictment, which would be an unusual procedural move. Prosecutors must still seek a grand jury indictment if the court permits it before Comey can be arrested, arraigned, or enter a plea.

In a video posted to Substack on Monday, Comey responded to the public release of the charges. He said, “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 added, “Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the unsealing of the charges on Monday. McFadden noted that the facts underlying the investigation have been subject to considerable press coverage. He explained that while it is not unusual to initially seal a charging instrument, such seals are typically used to aid in the apprehension of a defendant. McFadden’s decision brought the case out of a period of secrecy that began on October 5.

The Justice Department maintains that the filing was timely. A department spokesperson said in a statement that the action was meant to toll, or pause, the statute of limitations. The spokesperson noted that filing a criminal information to pause the statute is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple circuit courts of appeals. The department described the matter as an ongoing criminal investigation and declined to comment further.

Greg Rosen, a former supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, disputed the department's characterization. He told NBC News that filing a placeholder charge on the last possible day, under seal, and in the third case against the same man is not routine. Rosen, who now works for a law firm, called the action vindictive. He emphasized that Comey cannot be tried on the current filing alone.

Comey served as FBI director when the 2016 article was published. Trump fired him in May 2017 after he launched an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. Trump has repeatedly called for Comey’s prosecution, using labels such as “dirty cop” and “sick person.” The first of the three cases against Comey was dismissed by a judge. The second, filed in April 2026 in North Carolina, involved an indictment related to a photograph of seashells arranged to read “8647.”

Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who represents Comey, issued a statement on Monday. He said the first case was dismissed after the Department of Justice used a person who was not actually a United States Attorney to seek an indictment that was not actually shown to a grand jury. Regarding the current case, Fitzgerald noted that two different teams of prosecutors investigated the 2016 article during the first Trump administration and both determined no charges should be brought. He stated that Comey will fight the new charges vigorously and in the open. The unsealing of the charges occurred the same day a federal judge ruled that Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, had been unlawfully fired from the Justice Department last year and ordered her reinstatement.