The Trump administration has brought a third federal case against former FBI Director James Comey in a little over a year.
Comey now faces two counts: transmission of national defense information and conspiracy to transmit national defense information. The allegations relate to an October 2026 New York Times article concerning a secret court order requiring Yahoo to scan emails for messages potentially linked to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to prosecutors, Comey directed the FBI’s then-general counsel to disclose classified information connected to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in an effort to correct information Comey believed was inaccurate and allow the New York Times to publish a more accurate account. Comey’s defense team has denied the allegations and argues that prosecutors improperly used a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations, solely to circumvent the 10-year limitations period.
In this episode of Bloomberg Law Radio, former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz examines the allegations and explains why prosecutors chose to file a criminal information rather than seek a grand jury indictment. He also discusses the next steps, including the need to obtain an indictment from a federal grand jury if the court allows the case to proceed.