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DOJ, Comey's lawyers face off in court over latest attempt to charge him
· Confirmed
In Short: 650Keni and San report that Comey's lawyers say the alleged disclosure of classified information on Oct. 5, 2016, was investigated by two separate U.S. attorneys' offices, both of which declined to bring charges.
Prosecutors are seeking to charge James Comey for a third time under the Espionage Act, alleging he violated the act by leaking national defense information in connection with a 2016 New York Times article, according to CBS News. Comey's legal team argues that the Justice Department missed the five-year statute of limitations for one potential crime and waited until the last possible day of a 10-year deadline to file it under a separate statute, as reported by CBS News.
650Keni and San report that Comey's lawyers say the alleged disclosure of classified information on Oct. 5, 2016, was investigated by two separate U.S. attorneys' offices, both of which declined to bring charges. CBS News notes that Comey's legal team also argues that the government cannot act to prosecute him based on the information.
Ntd and CBS News report that Comey's legal team maintains he is innocent and that the Justice Department's latest attempt to prosecute him should be dismissed due to the statute of limitations. Comey's attorneys said in filings earlier this week that the alleged disclosure of classified information took place on Oct. 5, 2016, and was investigated by two separate U.S. attorneys' offices, both of which declined to bring charges.
CBS News and 650Keni report that Comey is facing charges tied to an Instagram post in which he shared a photo of seashells on a beach arranged to form the numbers '86 47.' Prosecutors alleged the post amounted to a threat against President Trump, as '86' is sometimes used in restaurant parlance to mean getting rid of something and has also been associated with mob terminology.
Both CBS News and Ntd report that Comey's legal team argues that the government's practice of filing charges at the last possible moment to toll the statute of limitations is widely recognized in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals. However, the Justice Department counters that federal appeals courts have permitted criminal informations to suspend the limitations period while prosecutors pursue an indictment.
650Keni and San report that Comey's legal team said in a statement on Monday that Comey 'steadfastly maintains his innocence.' Comey was not physically present in court on Friday, according to CBS News.
Despite the disagreements over the statute of limitations and the timing of the charges, all sources agree that Comey is facing criminal charges for the third time, with federal prosecutors alleging he leaked national defense information while serving as the nation's top law enforcement official.
What this adds
The sources have not established whether the new evidence of additional 'overt acts' by Comey will be sufficient to overcome the statute of limitations defense.
What's confirmed
- James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is facing criminal charges for the third time, with federal prosecutors alleging he leaked national defense information while serving as the nation's top law enforcement official.
- 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.
- Comey was first charged was in September 2025 on charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding during his 2020 testimony on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
- The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the charges were unsealed Monday (October 26) and accuse Comey of directing an individual, "through one and more co-conspirators," to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication in 2016.
- "Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent, and I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary."
What's still developing
- Since then, however, Farahnak revealed that the ongoing investigation has uncovered new evidence of additional "overt acts" by Mr. Comey that took place after Oct. 5, 2016.
- And a federal appeals court rejected the DOJ’s emergency request to set aside roughly 20,000 California mail-in ballots, with a lower court set to hear the case today.
- 5, 2016, Comey, while lawfully possessing or having access to information relating to the national defense, “knowingly and willfully” caused that information to be transmitted to someone who was not entitled to receive it.
- OAN Staff Lillian Mann 3:42 PM – Monday, October 26, 2026 Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey has been charged for a third time with federal crimes, this time for knowingly communicating national defense information to an unauthorized recipient.
- A U.S. judge today found evidence of “government misconduct” in how a prosecutor aligned with President Donald Trump secured criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and ordered that grand jury materials be turned over to Comey’s defense team.
- "Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent," Comey said, reaffirming his confidence in the federal judiciary.
- Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett evaluates the federal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for an alleged threatening social media post on ‘Hannity.’ An Obama-appointed New York federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump Justice Department unlawfully fired former FBI Director James Comey's daughter Maurene, rejecting the administration's sweeping claim of executive authority and warning that its argument threatened the nation's constitutional balance of power.
- The judge found that Comey's firing violated those requirements, noting that the government conceded her removal was not based on misconduct or poor performance and that she received neither advance notice nor an opportunity to respond.
- A previous case—charging Comey with making false statements at a 2020 Senate hearing and obstructing a congressional investigation—was dismissed by a judge who found that the prosecutor handling the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been illegally appointed.
- Court documents show the charges were filed exactly 10 years after the alleged leak—the statute of limitations on unauthorized disclosure offenses.
- District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Comey of "knowingly and wittingly" transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so.
- The former FBI Director was later charged again by a federal grand jury in April over an online social media post featuring seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Prosecutors framed the image as a threat to harm the president — as “86” is a slang term meaning to throw out and/or eliminate, while “47” is a reference to the 47 th President, Donald Trump.