Justice Department files new national-defense charges against James Comey

Created: 2026-10-27T07:00:00-04:00 (America/New_York)
Last updated: 2026-10-27T06:36:31-04:00 (America/New_York)

A federal court in Washington unsealed a criminal information charging former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national-defense information and conspiracy, tied to alleged October 2016 disclosures to a reporter; Comey’s lawyers have moved to dismiss, citing the statute of limitations.

What we can say from primary-oriented reading

• Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, United States v. James Brien Comey, Jr., No. 1:26-cr-00229 (TNM); unsealing memorandum order by Judge Trevor N. McFadden dated Oct. 26, 2026.
• Per the order, the government filed a criminal information (not a grand-jury indictment) on Oct. 5, 2026, with two counts: 18 U.S.C. § 793(d) (transmitting national-defense information) and conspiracy under §§ 793(d) and (g).
• The charges concern alleged conduct on Oct. 5, 2016, while Comey was FBI director. The government moved to seal, citing unindicted co-conspirators; Comey moved to dismiss and sought unsealing, and the government did not oppose unsealing.
• Coverage (NBC, CNBC, WaPo) describes this as the third federal case brought against Comey; Comey said in a video that he is innocent (as reported by NBC).
• Not yet verified against a primary source (TBD): The criminal information itself and DOJ’s statement were not retrieved in this run.

Primary sources

• Memorandum Order unsealing U.S. v. Comey, No. 1:26-cr-00229 (D.D.C., Oct. 26, 2026) (PDF, hosted by MS NOW)

How outlets framed it

Visually separated appendix — outlet angles from headlines in today’s scout. Not our voice.

• WaPo: Headline frames the story as: “Justice Dept. charges James Comey, ex-FBI director, for a third time”
• NBC: Headline frames the story as: “James Comey charged for a third time by the Trump administration”
• CNN: Headline frames the story as: “Fmr. FBI Director James Comey charged by DOJ for third time”
• Bloomberg: Headline frames the story as: “DOJ Accuses Ex-FBI Director Comey of Sharing Defense Secrets”
• WSJ: Headline frames the story as: “Justice Department Charges James Comey Again”