Trump Justice Department Files New Charges Against James Comey
The Justice Department filed two new counts against former FBI Director James Comey over an alleged 2016 disclosure, while his lawyers challenged the government’s unusual decision to bypass a grand jury.
The Justice Department filed two new federal counts against former FBI Director James Comey on Monday, October 26, 2026, accusing him of disclosing national-defense information. The filing opens a third criminal case brought against Comey during President Donald Trump’s second term and adds another chapter to the long-running conflict between Trump and the former bureau director.
The BBC reported that the new case concerns an alleged disclosure of classified information to The New York Times in October 2016, when Comey was still leading the FBI. Reuters described the accusation as sharing sensitive national-security information. The government’s claims are allegations; Comey has not been convicted in this case, and the short filing reviewed by news organizations does not establish that the alleged disclosure occurred.
Court filing provides few details
The two-count charging document is three pages long and gives few public details about the information at issue, the person who allegedly received it or the government’s evidence. The Associated Press reported that the allegations appeared in documents unsealed Monday in federal court in Washington. The reports reviewed for this article did not identify a trial date or describe a judicial ruling on the merits of the accusations.
Comey denied wrongdoing in a video posted to Substack on Monday. He called the prosecution an “appalling abuse of the Department of Justice,” according to the BBC. His response places the central facts in dispute at the outset: prosecutors allege an unlawful disclosure, while Comey says the case is an improper use of federal law enforcement.
Defense challenges decision to bypass grand jury
The case also begins with an immediate procedural dispute. The AP reported that prosecutors used an unusual method that bypassed a grand jury. Comey’s lawyers argue that the maneuver makes the case legally invalid. That is a defense position, not yet a court ruling. The publicly available reports did not explain the Justice Department’s full legal rationale for proceeding that way.
The distinction is important because the new filing may face litigation over whether the government properly initiated the prosecution before a court considers the underlying disclosure allegation. A successful procedural challenge could halt or reshape the case without deciding whether Comey mishandled information. If the case proceeds, prosecutors would still have to prove each charged element beyond a reasonable doubt.
A third case in Trump’s second term
The latest counts are separate from an earlier case accusing Comey of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. That prosecution was dismissed after a judge found that the U.S. attorney who obtained the charges had not been lawfully appointed. Comey pleaded not guilty. He has also pleaded not guilty to a separate federal charge alleging that a social-media post threatened Trump.
Trump fired Comey in May 2017 while the FBI was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Since then, Trump has repeatedly criticized him, and Comey has become one of the president’s most prominent former law-enforcement adversaries. That history explains the political significance of the new case, but it does not resolve either the criminal allegations or the defense’s procedural objection.
New case follows a ruling involving Comey’s daughter
The filing became public on the same day a federal judge ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Comey’s daughter, former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey. The employment ruling and the new criminal case concern different people, conduct and legal questions. Their timing does not establish a legal connection between them.
The next consequential step will be the court’s handling of the charging procedure and Comey’s response to the two counts. Until those issues are resolved, the case remains an accusation by the Trump administration’s Justice Department that Comey denies, not a finding of criminal liability.
Sources and image credit
- Reuters — Trump Justice Department brings another criminal case against James Comey
- Associated Press via WTOP — Newly unsealed documents show the administration trying to prosecute Comey again
- BBC News — James Comey faces federal charges for a third time
- Image: Official FBI portrait of James Comey, Wikimedia Commons
- Original full-resolution portrait