Former FBI Director James Comey faces new federal charges, the third time the Trump administration has gone after him, according to Axios. Prosecutors accuse him of directing the disclosure of national defense information to a reporter through one or more co-conspirators in October 2016, while he was still running the FBI. The charges are transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so. According to CBS News, the case centers on an October 2016 New York Times article about Yahoo helping with U.S. email surveillance. Comey hasn't been indicted by a grand jury. Prosecutors instead filed a criminal information, which needs no grand jury approval. A DOJ spokesperson said it was filed to preserve the 10-year statute of limitations, which expires this month.

Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said Comey "steadfastly maintains his innocence" and will fight the charges. He pointed out that two separate teams of prosecutors investigated the same article during Trump's first term and decided against bringing charges. Comey called the move "an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice." President Trump told reporters he had "just heard about it" and called Comey "a dirty cop." The DOJ described the filing as a "widely recognized practice" approved by several appeals courts. Several former prosecutors told CBS News they had never seen it used this way, and former DOJ Inspector General Michael Bromwich called it "absolutely bizarro world stuff."

The case was filed under seal in early October and made public Monday by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who didn't rule on the merits. According to Comey's lawyers, the government agreed at an emergency hearing to hold off on seeking an indictment for 30 days. The DOJ dropped an earlier 2025 case accusing Comey of lying to Congress, and a separate case over his "86 47" Instagram post is still pending. Attorney General Todd Blanche has denied the cases are politically motivated. On the same day the new charges were unsealed, Axios reports, a federal judge ruled that the administration unlawfully fired Comey's daughter, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey.