The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of unlawfully disclosing national defense information to a person not authorized to receive it, the department said.
Prosecutors say the alleged disclosure occurred in October 2016 and was linked to reporting that later appeared in The New York Times. According to court filings cited by investigators, Comey sought to address what he regarded as inaccurate reporting in a Reuters story the previous day and instructed subordinates to contact a Times reporter about the matter. The Justice Department said it has obtained evidence it says shows Comey provided classified information to the press for subsequent publication.
Charges and procedure
The department brought the case through a criminal information, a charging document used by prosecutors instead of a grand jury indictment. No criminal complaint was filed, the filings show. Prosecutors allege the disclosure involved information tied to an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times article headlined “Yahoo Is Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance by Altering Spam Filter,” which cited two anonymous U.S. government officials.
The Justice Department has attributed the alleged acts to Comey in its filings and said investigators have collected evidence of his involvement in providing information to the press. The charges invoke the Espionage Act, under which unauthorized disclosure of national defense information can be prosecuted.
Defense response and prior reviews
Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, rejected the allegations, saying the former FBI director has consistently denied committing any crimes. Fitzgerald told reporters that the charges are unfounded and noted the matter was examined twice during President Donald Trump’s first term, with investigators on both occasions finding no basis for criminal charges.
“He is accused of crimes he did not commit,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney.
The filings and the defense statement emphasize that earlier probes did not result in charges. The current charging decision bypasses the more typical grand jury process and instead uses a prosecutor-filed information. The department transferred no further procedural milestones in the filings, and court scheduling and next steps will be determined by the federal court handling the matter.
- Allegation: Unauthorized disclosure of national defense information in October 2016.
- Reporting link: Alleged disclosure tied to an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times article.
- Charging method: Case filed by criminal information rather than by grand jury indictment; no criminal complaint was filed.
The case places a former senior federal law enforcement official at the center of a federal criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act. The defense’s rejection of the charges and references to prior reviews are included in the court record filed by Comey’s attorney.
