James Comey Is Charged a Third Time Over a 2016 Leak. Prove It in Court, and Keep Grudges Out of the Law.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged by federal prosecutors with transmission of national defense information and conspiracy to transmit national defense information, NBC News reported Monday. NBC said the case had played out under seal since Oct. 5 and that it is the third federal case brought against Comey since President Donald Trump's second term began.

CNBC reported that the filing, made public Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., says Comey, "through one or more co-conspirators," directed an unnamed individual "to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication."

What prosecutors allege

According to NBC, the charges stem from an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times article by reporter Charlie Savage about Yahoo and government email surveillance. Comey was FBI director at the time. In a filing unsealed Monday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote that "Mr. Comey directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage about specific accuracy concerns related to the Reuters article, and thereby illegally transferred classified information," NBC reported.

The BBC described the court filing as three pages long with few details about the two counts, and said Comey's own lawyers identified the alleged October 2016 disclosure to the Times as the basis of the case.

What the defense says

Comey's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss about 10 days before the charges became public. They argue the case is "time barred" because the government had 10 years to bring it "by obtaining a grand jury indictment," and prosecutors instead filed a criminal information, a charge filed by prosecutors without a grand jury, according to NBC. Prosecutors maintain the charges are timely.

Comey attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said two different teams of prosecutors had looked at the alleged disclosure during Trump's first term. "Both times the Government determined that no charges should be brought against anyone," he said, the BBC reported.

Comey responded in a video on Substack. "Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary," he said, CNBC reported.

The earlier cases

Comey was first indicted in September 2025 in Virginia on charges of making a false statement and obstruction tied to his 2020 Senate testimony; that indictment was dismissed. In April, he was indicted in North Carolina on a charge of threatening Trump's life by posting a photo of seashells arranged to read "86 47," a case he is asking a judge to throw out, CNBC reported. He has denied wrongdoing.

His daughter wins her case the same day

Hours before the new charges surfaced, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Comey's daughter, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey. In a 55-page order, Furman granted her request for retroactive reinstatement and back pay and found that her removal "indisputably violated the CSRA," the Civil Service Reform Act, Courthouse News Service reported. A Justice Department spokesperson said the department "disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course."

Opinion: Prove it in court, and let the public see a law that does not hold grudges

Leaking classified information is a serious crime, and no former official is above the law because he is famous or because the president dislikes him. I wrote as much about a CIA contractor charged in a separate leak case in CIA Contractor Charged With Leaking Classified Reports to Substack. If prosecutors can prove James Comey directed classified information to a reporter, he should answer for it like anyone else.

But the public is right to weigh the record. This is the third case against the same man in about 13 months. The first was thrown out. The new charge rests on a single disclosure from exactly 10 years ago, filed without a grand jury, and his lawyer says two earlier teams of prosecutors looked at the same matter and declined to charge anyone. On the same day, a federal judge ruled that the department broke the law when it fired his daughter. None of that proves Comey innocent. It does mean the government carries an extra burden to show this is about evidence, not a feud.

Scripture is plain about both errors: "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 17:15). A Justice Department that lets the guilty walk fails the people. So does one that is seen chasing enemies. Conservatives who spent years objecting to a weaponized FBI should want the same standard now, no matter whose name is on the case.

Let the judge rule on the statute of limitations. Let the evidence be tested in open court. And let prosecutors remember that the power to charge is a trust, not a weapon.