James Comey charges involving the alleged disclosure of national defense information were unsealed on October 26, 2026, in federal court in Washington, D.C. The former FBI director denies wrongdoing and is seeking to have the case dismissed.
What the James Comey charges allege
The Justice Department accuses Comey of knowingly communicating national defense information to someone not entitled to receive it and conspiring with others to violate the law against sharing such information.
The charging document, known as an information, alleges that Comey, through one or more co-conspirators, directed an unnamed person to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication.
Comey’s lawyers said the case concerns the alleged disclosure of classified information to The New York Times on October 5, 2016. They said two separate U.S. attorneys had investigated the alleged disclosure over the past decade and both declined to prosecute.
Defense seeks dismissal
The Justice Department filed the information on October 5, 2026, and asked that it be sealed, citing a risk to an ongoing criminal investigation. Judge Trevor McFadden granted the request.
On October 9, Comey’s lawyers moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the 10-year deadline for filing a grand jury indictment over the alleged events had expired. They accused the department of filing the information under seal to try to pause the deadline. McFadden later agreed to their request to unseal the document.
Comey is also seeking dismissal of a separate North Carolina indictment alleging that he threatened President Donald Trump. He denies wrongdoing in that case. A previous indictment accusing him of false statements and obstruction was dismissed in November 2025 after a judge ruled that the prosecutor who obtained it had been invalidly appointed.
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