Federal prosecutors filed a criminal information in Washington charging former FBI Director James Comey with leaking national defense information and conspiracy, drawing sharp denials and a push to dismiss the case over a ten-year statute of limitations.
The Justice Department initiated its latest legal action against James Comey under seal on October 5, exactly a decade after the disputed news story was published, according to court documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The charging document accuses the former FBI director of knowingly communicating defense information to an unauthorized person and conspiring with others to violate disclosure laws. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in a filing that investigators uncovered evidence showing Comey directed staff to speak with a reporter about accuracy concerns regarding a Reuters article, thereby illegally transferring classified information.
Defense Challenges Statute Of Limitations In October 2016 Leak Case
The charges center on an October 5, 2016, alleged disclosure regarding a journalist.
Comey’s defense team moved swiftly to dismiss the case, arguing that the 10-year statute of limitations for grand jury indictments expired before prosecutors filed the criminal information. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told the court that the disclosure was investigated by two separate U.S. Attorneys over the past ten years, and both declined to prosecute.
The Justice Department criminally charged former FBI Director James Comey for the third time.Comey is charged over allegedly leaking a sensitive national security document when he was FBI director in October 2016, according to court records made public Monday.… pic.twitter.com/lDTKKR5McU
During the first Trump administration, prosecutor John Durham investigated the matter and wrote a classified memo in December 2018 recommending against criminal charges.
In January 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia launched a second probe under the code name Tropical Vortex,
which closed without charges in February 2020. Prosecutors defended the current filing as a standard legal maneuver. A Justice Department spokesperson maintained that filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Judge McFadden Unseals Docket in Third Federal Case Against Comey
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden held a closed-door hearing on October 9 after Comey’s attorneys sought to unseal the docket, and subsequently granted the request to make the filing public.
This action marks the third federal case brought against Comey since Donald Trump’s second term began. The first case, filed in Virginia, accused him of lying to Congress during 2020 testimony and was dismissed after a judge ruled the interim prosecutor was invalidly appointed. A second case remains pending in North Carolina, where Comey was indicted for allegedly threatening Trump by posting an image of seashells arranged as “86 47.” Comey responded to the new charges through a video message published on Substack.
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.
James Comey
How will Judge McFadden rule on Comey’s pending motion to dismiss the national defense disclosure case?
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