DOJ charges Comey with 2016 NYT leak to stop 10-year clock
A new federal case accuses Comey of leaking classified national defense information to a New York Times reporter in 2016.
By Lucas Navarro ·
The US Justice Department has filed a third federal charge against former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of sharing sensitive national security information in 2016. The filing, a criminal information, was made to prevent the ten-year statute of limitations from expiring earlier this month.
Court documents revealed Monday in Washington federal court allege that Comey transmitted and conspired to transmit national defense information. The prosecution claims he passed classified details to a reporter from the New York Times in October 2016. The document was filed on October 5 but remained sealed until Comey's lawyers requested it be unsealed.
In a video posted to Instagram, Comey stated that the Justice Department was "back again" and asserted, "I'm still innocent." His legal team has already moved to dismiss the case, contending the procedural step is legally improper. Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey's attorney, said in a statement that the filing "purports to charge Mr. Comey with crimes that he did not commit."
This new case joins two other legal battles Comey is currently facing. The Justice Department previously charged him with lying to Congress regarding media leaks and with threatening President Donald Trump in a social media post. A judge has already dismissed the false statements case, while the threats case remains pending in court.
A Justice Department spokesperson described the filing as a widely recognized practice in federal court used to halt the statute of limitations. The spokesperson added that the matter is an ongoing criminal investigation and that the department would not comment further on the specific allegations.
