DOJ files new charges against James Comey over 2016 Yahoo leak

The Department of Justice has filed a criminal information against former FBI Director James Comey, alleging he leaked classified information in 2016. The filing was revealed Monday in court documents that had been unsealed. This action extends the legal window for the government to bring formal charges. Comey’s legal team has described the move as a third attempt to prosecute him in recent years.

The alleged offense concerns a New York Times story published in October 2016. The article detailed a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order. That order required Yahoo to scan emails for messages linked to a foreign terrorist organization. The story cited two government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Comey’s lawyers argue the statute of limitations for this crime is ten years.

Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the Justice Department has attempted to charge Comey with a federal crime for the third time in little more than one year. Fitzgerald stated that Comey maintains his innocence. The lawyers argue that a criminal information does not meet the legal requirement for an indictment within the ten-year limit. They have asked a judge to dismiss the filing, a request that is currently pending.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice. The spokesperson noted that multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals have approved this method. The department described the matter as an ongoing criminal investigation and declined to comment further. An information can be filed without a judge’s approval or a grand jury finding of probable cause.

Prosecutors said they found evidence that Comey sought to correct misinformation in the press. The misinformation had appeared via Reuters the day before the New York Times story ran. According to the filing, Comey directed his staff to speak to a journalist about accuracy concerns. Prosecutors argue this action illegally transferred classified information.

The matter was previously investigated by federal authorities in early 2017. Prosecutor John Durham led that initial review. In December 2018, Durham wrote a classified memo recommending no criminal charges against anyone. A second investigation opened in January 2019 under the code name Tropical Vortex. That probe closed in February 2020 without any charges being filed.

Comey said in a video statement that the government is back again. He called the move an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice. Comey said he is still innocent and not afraid of the people prosecuting him. He expressed belief in an independent federal judiciary.

Comey has faced two other criminal cases since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. One case, filed in Virginia, accused him of lying to Congress in 2020. A judge dismissed that case, concluding the prosecutor was illegally appointed. A separate pending indictment charges Comey with threatening Trump through an Instagram photo. The photo showed seashells arranged in the numerical sequence 86 47.

Comey served as FBI director when Trump took office in 2017. Trump fired Comey in May 2017 during an investigation into Russian ties to the campaign. The relationship between the two men has remained strained. Comey published a memoir in 2018 that criticized Trump. Trump has repeatedly claimed Comey should face treason charges.

Maurene Comey, James Comey’s daughter, was fired from her job as a Justice Department prosecutor in New York last year. A federal judge ruled that termination illegal on Monday. The ruling adds to the series of legal actions involving the former director and his family.