Ten years to the day after a New York Times reporter published a story about Yahoo scanning customer email for U.S. intelligence, the Justice Department walked into federal court in Washington and charged the man who ran the FBI at the time. The James Comey classified leak charges were filed quietly under seal on Oct. 5, 2026, and stayed hidden for three weeks until a judge opened the file on Monday.
The two counts accuse Comey of passing national defense information to someone not entitled to receive it, and of conspiring with others to do it. Comey says he is innocent. His lawyers say the government ran out the clock and is trying to sneak in under the wire with a filing the law does not allow. Prosecutors say they did exactly what five federal appeals courts have approved.
What the James Comey Classified Leak Charges Allege
The charging document is short. Three pages, two counts, filed as United States v. James Brien Comey, Jr., case number 1:26-cr-00229 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Stucci Media reviewed the criminal information as posted to the CourtListener docket.
Count One alleges that on or about Oct. 5, 2016, Comey “knowingly and willfully communicated” national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 793(d). That is the core leak provision of the Espionage Act.
Count Two is a conspiracy charge under 793(g). It says that, acting through one or more co-conspirators, Comey directed a person identified only as “Individual #1” to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication. The conspiracy is written as running from no later than Oct. 4, 2016, up to the date of the filing.
Each count carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to the defense motion. The filing also includes a standard forfeiture notice.
The information was signed by three special assistant U.S. attorneys: Patrick R. Hopple, Dustin Farahnak and Justin Meckler Silverberg. It also carries the names of Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter and Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh.
The 2016 Yahoo Story at the Center of the Case
The government’s 51-page response to Comey’s motion fills in what the charging document leaves out. On Oct. 5, 2016, Times reporter Charlie Savage published a story reporting that Yahoo had adapted a spam filter to help the government scan email under a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order. The story cited two unnamed government officials.
According to prosecutors, that article contained first-time disclosures of classified information. They say it closely tracked an internal government email circulated to about 30 people in the intelligence community only hours earlier. The Times story went up less than four hours after that email went out, the filing says.
That internal email, prosecutors say, held proposed talking points meant to respond to a Reuters report published the day before. Reuters had broken the news that Yahoo built software to search incoming messages for U.S. intelligence officials. The government’s theory is that Comey wanted to correct what he saw as errors in the Reuters piece, directed staff to talk to Savage about “specific accuracy concerns,” and in doing so moved classified information into the press.
As Just the News reported, the filing names Savage as the reporter. Neither the Times nor Savage is accused of any crime. Prosecutors have not said publicly who Individual #1 is.
Why Was James Comey Charged Again With a Criminal Information?
Most federal felonies are charged by grand jury indictment. The Fifth Amendment requires it, and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7 says a felony can move forward on a prosecutor’s information only if the defendant waives indictment in open court. Comey has not waived anything. That means the government cannot try him on this document alone.
So why file it? The answer is the calendar. Espionage Act cases under Section 793 get a longer statute of limitations than most crimes: 10 years instead of the usual five. The alleged leak happened Oct. 5, 2016. The information was filed Oct. 5, 2026. The Justice Department told reporters, as Missouri Lawyers Media reported, that filing an information to stop the clock is a widely recognized practice that several federal appeals courts have approved.
The defense argument. The 10-year window comes from Section 19 of the Internal Security Act of 1950. That law says an “indictment” for a Section 793 violation may be found within 10 years. It does not mention an information. Comey’s lawyers argue that means the 10-year extension applies only to indictments. For an information, they say, the default five-year limit applies, and that expired in 2021. They also argue a separate savings statute, 18 U.S.C. 3288, cannot rescue a charge that was untimely from the start. The three appeals court cases the government relies on, they say, all involved informations filed on time.
The government argument. Prosecutors say Section 19 only sets the length of the clock. The general limitations statute, 18 U.S.C. 3282, says a prosecution is timely if “the indictment is found or the information is instituted” within the period. In the government’s reading, either document satisfies the 10 years. Prosecutors argue the word “information” was left out of Section 19 simply because Congress copied it from a 1939 law on capital crimes, which could only be charged by indictment. They also say the motion is premature: there is no indictment yet, and Comey has never made an initial appearance, so there is nothing for the court to dismiss.
Both sides have a real argument. The D.C. Circuit has never squarely ruled on this question, according to the defense filing, which is one reason legal observers expect the issue to be appealed no matter how Judge McFadden rules.
Judge Trevor McFadden and the Sealed Weeks
The case landed with U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a 2017 appointee of President Donald Trump who previously served in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. On Oct. 26, McFadden granted Comey’s request to unseal the file. The government did not object.
The sealed docket shows how fast things moved. Comey’s lawyers filed their motion to dismiss on Oct. 9, four days after the information. They asked for an emergency hearing that same day, writing that they had reason to believe the government might seek an arrest warrant that afternoon, which could have left Comey in jail over a holiday weekend. No arrest has been reported.
The Justice Department answered on Oct. 23. As of Oct. 28, McFadden had not ruled on the motion to dismiss, and no grand jury indictment had been reported in the D.C. case.
Three Cases in 13 Months
The D.C. charges are the third federal case filed against Comey since the fall of 2025. Each has run into its own trouble.
Virginia, September 2025. A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted Comey on two counts tied to his 2020 Senate testimony about whether he authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source for the press. The grand jury declined to approve a third count. In November 2025, a federal judge dismissed the case after finding that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who presented it, had been unlawfully appointed. The government appealed. The Fourth Circuit has heard arguments but has not ruled, according to The Epoch Times.
North Carolina, April 2026. Prosecutors charged Comey with threatening the president over a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Comey deleted the post at the time and said he did not intend it as a call to violence. His lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the case as vindictive and selective prosecution. The Justice Department denies prosecuting him over his political views. Trial is set for February 2027, according to Just the News.
There is also a thread running back to Trump’s first term. Comey’s attorney, former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, says two earlier prosecution teams, including one connected to former Special Counsel John Durham, reviewed these same facts and declined to bring charges. Just the News has reported that the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute a related leak investigation in January 2020, though it is not clear whether that probe focused on the same Times story.
What Both Sides Are Saying
Comey has denied wrongdoing in every case. In a video statement after the D.C. charges became public, he said he is “still innocent” and will keep fighting. Fitzgerald said Comey “steadfastly maintains his innocence” and called this the third attempt in about a year to charge him.
The Justice Department has said little beyond its court filings. A spokesperson defended the use of an information to toll the statute of limitations and said the department would not comment further because the investigation is ongoing.
Supporters of the prosecution argue that leaks of classified surveillance programs do real damage, that senior officials should face the same rules as junior analysts, and that a 10-year limitations period exists precisely because espionage cases take years to build. Critics argue that a case filed on the last possible day, after earlier teams passed on it, against one of the president’s best-known critics, looks less like law enforcement and more like retribution. Both views are being argued in court filings, not just on cable news.
James Comey is accused, not convicted. He is presumed innocent in all three cases.
Why It Matters
Set the politics aside for a moment. This case matters for three reasons that reach well beyond one former FBI director.
First, the clock. If Judge McFadden or a higher court accepts the government’s reading, prosecutors will have a clear path to freeze the statute of limitations in espionage cases with a prosecutor-only filing, then go to a grand jury later. If the court sides with Comey, the Justice Department loses that option in Espionage Act cases. Either way, this ruling will be cited.
Second, the leak line. Every administration complains about leaks, and every administration has officials who talk to reporters to “correct the record.” Readers who have held a clearance know the rule: you do not get to decide on your own that something classified is fine to share because you think another outlet got it wrong. This case tests whether that rule applies at the very top, and how prosecutors prove who said what to whom a decade later.
Third, public trust. Veterans, service members and federal employees take an oath to protect classified information, and they also rely on a justice system that treats people equally. A case that holds senior officials accountable can build trust. A case that looks selective can erode it. That is why the procedural fight over a single word in a 1950 statute deserves attention from people who would never otherwise read a motion to dismiss.
For more on how federal prosecutors are handling high-profile cases this fall, see our coverage of DOJ charges against 28 green card holders in California and the ex-CIA official who pleaded guilty in a $194 million gold bar fraud. You can find more Crime and Investigation coverage from Stucci Media here.
What Happens Next
There are four decisions to watch, and they could come in almost any order.
- McFadden’s ruling on whether the D.C. information is valid, or whether the motion is premature.
- A grand jury indictment in Washington. The government cannot take this case to trial without one unless Comey waives indictment, which he has given no sign of doing.
- The Fourth Circuit’s decision on whether to revive the Virginia false statements case.
- The North Carolina court’s ruling on Comey’s vindictive prosecution motion ahead of the February 2027 trial date.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the James Comey classified leak charges?
Comey faces two counts filed Oct. 5, 2026, in federal court in Washington, D.C.: transmitting national defense information to someone not entitled to receive it under 18 U.S.C. 793(d), and conspiring to do so under 793(g). Both tie to an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times story about Yahoo and email surveillance.
Why was James Comey charged again?
Prosecutors say their investigation found evidence that Comey directed staff to speak with a Times reporter about a Reuters story, and that classified information was passed along in the process. They filed on the 10-year anniversary to stop the statute of limitations from running out.
What is a criminal information, and how is it different from an indictment?
An information is a charging document filed by prosecutors alone. An indictment is returned by a grand jury. In a federal felony case, a defendant cannot be tried on an information unless he waives his right to an indictment, which Comey has not done.
Who is the judge in the Comey D.C. case?
U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the District of Columbia, who was appointed in 2017. He unsealed the case on Oct. 26, 2026, and has not yet ruled on Comey’s motion to dismiss.
What other cases does James Comey face?
A 2025 Virginia case over his congressional testimony was dismissed after a judge found the prosecutor was unlawfully appointed, and the government’s appeal is pending. A 2026 North Carolina case over his “86 47” social media post is set for trial in February 2027. Comey denies wrongdoing in all three.
Rocci J. Stucci is the founder and CEO of Stucci Media and host of The Rocci Stucci Show.
