Former FBI director James Comey hit with third set of charges under Trump

Comey, who was fired during Trump’s first term, has been accused of unlawfully divulging national security information.

Former FBI Director James Comey has denounced the Trump administration's charges as political retribution [File: Carsten Koall/Getty Images]

James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is facing a third set of criminal charges under the administration of United States President Donald Trump.

On Monday, sealed documents came to light showing that the Trump administration has accused Comey of two counts related to the unlawful dissemination of “information related to national defence”.

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Comey, a high-profile Trump critic, has not been indicted in the case. He has denied any wrongdoing.

But it is the third time the Trump administration has sought to level criminal charges against the former FBI director since the president returned to office in January 2025.

In an October court filing , prosecutors accuse Comey of ordering his FBI colleagues to leak information to the news media.

“The defendant [Comey] through one or more co-conspirators directed Individual #1 to disclose national defence information to a reporter for a national news publication,” the court filing reads.

In a video published on the online platform Substack, Comey once again denounced the Trump administration’s attempts to prosecute him as a campaign of political retribution.

“Well, now 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,” Comey said.

“Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent, and I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”

Comey also noted that Trump is only midway through his second term, and he hinted that he expects more criminal charges to come his way.

“The next couple years are going to be hard for all of us,” Comey added. “It’s really important that we stand straight and keep the faith in America.”

The latest charges pertain to a New York Times article from October 5, 2016, which describes how the email platform Yahoo was ordered to scan traffic on its site for a specific computer signature allegedly tied to a “terrorist” organisation.

Prosecutors have accused Comey of directing sensitive information to be disclosed to the reporter on that story, Charlie Savage.

In a statement released to news media, Comey’s defence lawyer Pat Fitzgerald framed the charges as feeble, claiming that the government had already investigated the matter twice before.

“Both times the Government determined that no charges should be brought against anyone,” the statement said.

Fitzgerald pointed out that government prosecutors had not sought an indictment, which involves presenting charges to a grand jury that must then choose whether to approve the criminal charges.

Instead, they are seeking to charge Comey through a process called a “criminal information”, which allows prosecutors to bypass a grand jury.

“Ten years after the article was published, the Government filed an ‘Information’ against Mr Comey that was not approved by a judge nor issued by a grand jury,” Fitzgerald said. “It purports to charge Mr Comey with crimes that he did not commit.”

Federal Judge Trevor McFadden, from the US District Court in Washington, DC, is overseeing the case. He is a Trump appointee.

Trump has long sought the prosecution of Comey, whom he fired from the role of FBI director in 2017, during his first term as president.

Comey had been FBI head since 2013. But his dismissal came as the FBI investigated the possibility of collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a probe that Trump has repeatedly denounced as a “hoax”.

Following Trump’s second inauguration in 2025, his administration has sought the prosecution of several of the president’s critics, including Comey.

In September 2025, Trump appeared to request that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi look into Comey and other perceived political adversaries.

“Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia???” Trump wrote to Bondi in a social media post , referencing the former FBI director, a Democratic senator and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”

Trump concluded his post by telling Bondi not to “delay any longer” before pursuing the three critics.

“JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW,” he wrote.

Five days later, on September 25 of that year, Comey was indicted on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a legislative proceeding.

The case was ultimately dismissed on the basis that the prosecutor in charge, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.

A second indictment came on April 28. In that case, the Trump administration accused Comey of threatening the president by posting a photo on social media of seashells, arranged to form the message “86 47”.

Forty-seven is a reference to Trump, the 47th president, and “86” is a rhyming word for “nix”, common in the service industry as code for throwing out a dish or customer.

The Trump administration, however, has argued that “86” implies violence. That case is ongoing.

Earlier on Monday, before the third set of charges was revealed, a federal judge in a separate case ruled that Comey’s daughter, former assistant US attorney Maurene Comey, had been unlawfully fired last year under Trump’s second term.

The younger Comey has maintained her termination was retaliation against her father. The court ruled she was entitled to “retroactive reinstatement” and backpay.

James Comey has denied all accusations of criminal wrongdoing, and his legal team has sought to have the latest set of charges dismissed.

科米在特朗普第一任期内被解雇，他被指控非法泄露国家安全信息。

前FBI局长詹姆斯·科米谴责特朗普政府的指控是政治报复。[图片：Carsten Koall/Getty Images]

美国联邦调查局（FBI）前局长詹姆斯·科米在美国总统唐纳德·特朗普执政期间面临第三组刑事指控。

周一，一些密封文件曝光，显示特朗普政府指控科米犯有两项与非法传播“与国防有关的信息”有关的罪名。

在性行为不端调查中，FBI突袭了前美国众议员斯瓦尔韦尔的住所，以下是其中1次突袭行动的列表。

列表 2/3：为什么在中期选举前搜查伊尔汗·奥马尔的住所会引起争议？

美国法院裁定特朗普批评者詹姆斯·科米的女儿被非法解雇（共3条，此为第3条）

科米是特朗普的知名批评者，他并未在此案中被起诉。他否认有任何不当行为。

但这是自特朗普总统 2025 年 1 月重返总统职位以来，特朗普政府第三次试图对这位前联邦调查局局长提起刑事诉讼。

在 10 月份提交的法庭文件中，检方指控科米命令他的 FBI 同事向新闻媒体泄露信息。

法庭文件显示，“被告（科米）通过一名或多名同谋指示1号个人向一家国家新闻出版物的记者披露国防信息。”

在发布于在线平台 Substack 的一段视频中，科米再次谴责特朗普政府试图起诉他的行为是一场政治报复运动。

“好吧，现在他们又回来了。如果不是司法部遭受如此骇人听闻的滥用职权，我们绝不能对此麻木不仁，这简直就有点滑稽了。”科米说道。

“我的立场没有改变。我依然是清白的，依然不怕这些人，依然相信独立的联邦司法机构。”

科米还指出，特朗普的第二个任期才过半，并暗示他预计特朗普将面临更多刑事指控。

科米补充说：“未来几年对我们所有人来说都将是艰难的。我们必须坚定立场，对美国保持信心，这一点至关重要。”

最新的指控与 2016 年 10 月 5 日《纽约时报》的一篇文章有​​关，该文章描述了电子邮件平台雅虎如何被命令扫描其网站上的流量，以查找据称与“恐怖”组织有关的特定计算机签名。

检察官指控科米指示向报道该新闻的记者查理·萨维奇披露敏感信息。

科米的辩护律师帕特·菲茨杰拉德在向新闻媒体发表的声明中称这些指控站不住脚，并声称政府此前已经对此事进行过两次调查。

声明称：“政府两次都决定不对任何人提起诉讼。”

菲茨杰拉德指出，政府检察官尚未寻求起诉，起诉需要向大陪审团提出指控，然后由大陪审团决定是否批准刑事指控。

相反，他们正寻求通过一种名为“刑事起诉书”的程序来起诉科米，该程序允许检察官绕过大陪审团。

菲茨杰拉德说：“文章发表十年后，政府对科米先生提起诉讼，这份‘起诉书’既未经法官批准，也未经大陪审团签发。它指控科米先生犯有他并未犯下的罪行。”

来自华盛顿特区美国地方法院的联邦法官特雷弗·麦克法登正在审理此案。他是特朗普任命的法官。

特朗普长期以来一直寻求起诉科米，他在2017年担任总统的第一任期内解雇了科米的联邦调查局局长职务。

科米自 2013 年以来一直担任联邦调查局局长。但他被解职时，联邦调查局正在调查俄罗斯与特朗普 2016 年总统竞选活动之间是否存在勾结，特朗普一再谴责这项调查是“骗局”。

在特朗普 2025 年第二次就职后，他的政府寻求起诉总统的几位批评者，其中包括科米。

2025 年 9 月，特朗普似乎要求当时的司法部长帕姆·邦迪调查科米和其他被认为是政治对手的人。

“什么都没做。科米、亚当·“狡猾的”·希夫、莱蒂西亚呢？？？”特朗普在社交媒体上发帖给邦迪，提到了前联邦调查局局长、民主党参议员和纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯。“他们都罪孽深重，但却没人管。”

特朗普在帖子结尾告诉邦迪，不要再拖延了，应该立即追究这三位批评者的责任。

“正义必须立即得到伸张，”他写道。

五天后，即同年 9 月 25 日，科米因向国会撒谎和妨碍立法程序而被起诉。

该案最终被驳回，理由是负责此案的检察官林赛·哈利根的任命不合法。

4 月 28 日，第二份起诉书出炉。在那起案件中，特朗普政府指控科米在社交媒体上发布了一张贝壳照片，贝壳排列成“86 47”的字样，以此威胁总统。

“47”指的是特朗普，第 47 任总统，“86”是“nix”的押韵词，在服务行业中常用作扔掉盘子或顾客的暗语。

然而，特朗普政府辩称，“86”一词带有暴力含义。该案仍在审理中。

周一早些时候，在第三组指控公布之前，一名联邦法官在另一起案件中裁定，科米的女儿、前美国助理检察官莫琳·科米在特朗普的第二个任期内于去年被非法解雇。

小科米一直坚称她的解雇是对她父亲的报复。法院裁定她有权获得“追溯复职”和补发工资。

詹姆斯·科米否认了所有刑事不当行为的指控，他的律师团队也一直在寻求驳回最新一批指控。