Former FBI director charged with leaking defense information

Former FBI Director James Comey was charged by the U.S. government on Oct. 5, 2026, in connection with a leak of classified information to The New York Times 10 years prior. Attorneys representing him have maintained Comey’s innocence and called for the case to be dismissed.

According to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, federal prosecutors filed a “criminal information” — a statement of charges without a grand jury indictment or court’s finding of probable cause — in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The information, initially filed under seal, charges Comey with two counts under the Espionage Act: knowingly communicating defense information and collaborating with unnamed co-conspirators.

“Both counts revolve around one instance of an alleged unauthorized transmission of national defense information by someone else to a reporter for a national news publication on October 5, 2016,” Comey’s attorneys wrote. They added that the incident had been investigated twice previously, in 2017 and 2019, and both concluded that no charges were warranted.

Each charge is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Attorneys for the former FBI director filed a motion to dismiss the criminal information Oct. 9, and subsequently asked that the case be unsealed.

“No legitimate interest counsels against a full public airing of the government’s extraordinary conduct in this case—as well as Mr. Comey’s denial of the unfounded, untimely attempt to charge him through a unilateral information that neither a court nor a grand jury approved,” they wrote. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the Court should unseal the proceedings in this case.”

District Judge Trevor McFadden unsealed the case Oct. 26. Later that day, Comey posted a video on social media about the charges, stating that he is unafraid.

“Well, they’re back. Again. It would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to,” he said. “The next couple years are going to be hard for all of us. It’s really important that we stand straight and keep the faith in America.”

Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement that the newspaper “does not comment on the sourcing behind our reporting, but we know from experience that prosecutions like this one are designed to discourage sources from providing journalists with the kind of valuable and illuminating information that the public needs to know.”