The Justice Department took steps to charge James Comey with leaking information earlier this month, court records show, in its third attempt to bring criminal charges against the former FBI director and Trump foe.
Prosecutors are seeking to charge Comey with two counts of violating the Espionage Act by transmitting national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He has not been indicted by a grand jury or charged by criminal complaint, and was instead targeted through a criminal information filing.
In this case, the information was filed in order to preserve the statute of limitations before it expires, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. The official added that “this is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further.”
Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said Comey “steadfastly maintains his innocence.”
The latest effort by the Justice Department stems from allegations that Comey gave national defense information to an unnamed individual for disclosure in a newspaper in October 2016.
According to court filings in the case, The New York Times published an article on Oct. 5, 2016, titled, “Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance By Adapting Spam Filter.” The article cited two unnamed government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department alleges that it has uncovered evidence that Comey sought to “correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before” and that Comey “directed staff” to speak with the Times reporter about the accuracy of the Reuters article.
Fitzgerald said the information “purports to charge Mr. Comey with crimes that he did not commit.” In a separate video statement, Comey said, “well, they’re back again” — a reference to the two prior attempts to charge Comey, including a dismissed indictment accusing him of lying to Congress and a still-pending indictment accusing him of threatening President Trump.
“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,” Comey said. “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.”
This is a breaking story; it will be updated.
