Justice Department charges former FBI Director James Comey for a third time

WASHINGTON (Oct. 27) — Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to transmit it, according to a court filing unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington at Comey's request, CNBC reported. It is the third federal criminal case brought against him since President Donald Trump's second term began.

The charging document says Comey, "through one or more co-conspirators," directed an unnamed person "to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication," according to CNBC. NBC News reported that the charges stem from an Oct. 5, 2016, New York Times article by reporter Charlie Savage about Yahoo and U.S. email surveillance. In a filing, a prosecutor wrote that Comey "sought to correct misinformation" from a Reuters report published the day before and "directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage," and "thereby illegally transferred classified information," NBC reported.

The case has been under seal since Oct. 5, exactly 10 years after the alleged disclosure. Prosecutors filed what is known as a criminal information, a charge brought by prosecutors themselves, rather than a grand jury indictment, The Washington Post and NBC News reported. Comey's lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the 10-year statute of limitations for the offense requires a grand jury indictment within that period. They also told the judge the disclosure had been investigated by two U.S. attorneys over the past decade and that both declined to prosecute, CNBC reported.

Comey cannot be tried on the information alone unless he waives indictment, NBC News reported, so prosecutors would still need to seek an indictment, if the court allows it, before he could be arraigned.

"I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary," Comey said in a video posted Monday, according to NBC News. His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in a statement that Comey "steadfastly maintains his innocence," the Post reported.

A federal judge dismissed the first case against Comey, and a second, filed in North Carolina in April, accuses him of making a threat against Trump in a social media post, NBC News reported. Comey has maintained his innocence in that case as well. The new charges were made public hours after a federal judge in New York ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired his daughter, prosecutor Maurene Comey, CNBC reported.