Comey seeks dismissal of latest Justice Department case

Former FBI Director James Comey’s lawyers will ask a federal judge Friday to dismiss the Justice Department’s latest attempt to prosecute him, arguing that prosecutors missed the deadline to bring charges over an alleged 2016 disclosure of classified information.

The dispute centers on an unusual filing. Prosecutors submitted a criminal information on Oct. 5 rather than seek a grand jury indictment or file a criminal complaint for a judge to review. Comey has not been indicted or formally charged by criminal complaint in this case. His lawyers say the information cannot keep the case alive beyond the 10-year statute of limitations; the Justice Department says it can.

Prosecutors allege that Comey violated the Espionage Act by transmitting national defense information to someone not legally authorized to receive it in connection with a New York Times article. According to NBC News, the allegation concerns Comey’s authorization, while he was FBI director, for staff to speak with a Times reporter to correct the record about another report involving classified information. The Times article, published Oct. 5, 2016, discussed Yahoo’s compliance with a secret surveillance court order that led to systematic scanning of users’ email traffic, NBC reported.

Comey “steadfastly maintains his innocence,” his legal team said after the filings were unsealed Monday. According to CBS News, his lawyers said two U.S. attorneys’ offices previously investigated the alleged disclosure and declined to bring charges.

“The criminal information charging Mr. Comey should be dismissed as time barred,” his lawyers wrote. They argued that the filing does not meet the statutory requirements for a 10-year limitations period. After an emergency hearing earlier this month, the Justice Department agreed not to seek an indictment for 30 days, Comey’s lawyers said in court filings.

The Justice Department said it filed the information to preserve its case before the limitations period ran out. It contends that the alleged offense carries a 10-year deadline and that the information may substitute for an indictment in a felony case. Prosecutors also called Comey’s dismissal request premature because “there is no indictment to be dismissed.” U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden unsealed the case Monday and scheduled Friday’s hearing.

It is the Justice Department’s third attempt to prosecute Comey since September 2025. A federal judge dismissed a case accusing him of lying to Congress after finding that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who brought it, was unlawfully serving in that role.

In a separate case in North Carolina, Comey faces a charge stemming from an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read “8647.” Prosecutors allege it threatened President Donald Trump; Comey’s lawyers say it was not a threat and have sought dismissal, arguing in part that the prosecution was selective and vindictive. The judge has not ruled on those motions, and NBC News reported that the trial has been pushed to 2027.

Trump fired Comey as FBI director nearly a decade ago.