US prosecutors have moved to charge ex-FBI chief James Comey with two counts of unlawfully disclosing national defence information, a filing made public on 26 October; Comey denies wrongdoing and his lawyers have asked for dismissal.
Federal prosecutors have taken steps to charge former FBI Director James Comey with unlawfully disclosing national defence information, according to a court filing that came to light on Monday, 26 October 2026. The three-page document lists two counts and offers few details, and it marks the third time the Justice Department under President Donald Trump has sought to bring criminal charges against Comey, a long-time critic of the president.
Comey's lawyers say the case stems from an alleged disclosure of classified information to the New York Times in October 2016, when he headed the FBI. Al Jazeera reports that prosecutors accuse him of directing an associate to pass national defence information to a reporter. Comey was charged through a criminal information, a document filed directly by a prosecutor rather than approved by a grand jury. His attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said two earlier teams of prosecutors examined the matter and concluded that no charges should be brought, and the defence has filed a motion to dismiss, with one former prosecutor telling the BBC that the 10-year statute of limitations may have expired.
Comey denied any wrongdoing in a video on Substack, calling the case an appalling abuse of the Justice Department and saying he remains innocent. The new charges follow his September 2025 indictment for lying to Congress, which was dismissed in November 2025, and an April 2026 case over a seashell photo reading '86 47' that is still ongoing. The filing became public the same day a judge ruled that the firing of his daughter, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, was illegal and ordered her reinstated with back pay. The charges are allegations, and Comey is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise in court.
