DOJ accuses ex-FBI director James Comey of sharing defense secrets

Chris Strohm, Bloomberg News on Oct 26, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department accused former FBI Director James Comey of illegally directing the sharing of secret national defense information 10 years ago, according to a court filing unsealed on Monday.

Comey, who President Donald Trump has repeatedly said should be investigated and prosecuted, is alleged to have knowingly communicated information relating to U.S. national defense to a person not entitled to receive it, according to a criminal information filed in federal court in Washington.

The filing involves an Oct. 5, 2016, article in the New York Times “that two different teams of prosecutors investigated during the first Trump administration,” Comey’s lawyer Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Both times the government determined that no charges should be brought against anyone.”

Fitzgerald said Comey “will fight these charges vigorously and in the open.”

The Justice Department said a waiverless criminal information was filed “to toll the statute of limitations” as it relates to the allegations. The department said that “this is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further.”

The most recent case is the third time in a little over a year that federal prosecutors have accused Comey of a federal crime.

In September 2025, the Justice Department accused him of lying to Congress in a case that was subsequently thrown out by a judge. Prosecutors have also accused Comey of threatening Trump’s life for posting a photo on social media with the numbers 86 and 47 formed by seashells on a beach. Comey has asked a judge to throw out the seashells case.

“Nothing’s changed with me,” Comey said in a video posted on Substack after the filing was made public. “I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people. And I still believe in an independent federal judiciary.”

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