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”. 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 a criminal case 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.
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. 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. 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. Fitzgerald pointed out that government prosecutors had not sought an indictment — which involves presenting charges to a grand jury, which 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.
Comey that was not approved by a judge nor issued by a grand jury,” Fitzgerald said. Comey with crimes that he did not commit.” Federal Judge Trevor McFadden, from the US District Court in Washington, DC, is overseeing the case. 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.
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