WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has taken steps to charge former FBI Director James Comey with leaking classified information, court records show, its third attempt to prosecute the Trump critic, CBS News reported.
Prosecutors are seeking two counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly transmitting national defense information to someone not entitled to receive it. Rather than seeking a grand jury indictment, they filed a criminal information, which does not require grand jury approval or a judge’s finding of probable cause. A department spokesperson said it was filed to preserve the statute of limitations.
The case centers on an October 2016 New York Times article about Yahoo and government email surveillance. The department alleges Comey directed staff to speak with the reporter to correct an earlier Reuters story.
Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said the filing accuses his client of crimes he did not commit and noted that investigators reviewed the matter twice during Trump’s first term without bringing charges. “Well, they’re back again,” Comey said in a video statement.
A previous indictment accusing Comey of lying to Congress was dismissed, and a separate case accusing him of threatening the president with a social media photo of seashells spelling “86 47” is still pending.
Sources: CBS News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
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