Former FBI director James Comey charged for the third time as he's accused of leaking national defense information

Published: 17:27 EDT, 26 October 2026 | Updated: 18:05 EDT, 26 October 2026 Former FBI Director James Comey was criminally charged by the Justice Department Monday for a third time - an extraordinary effort to prosecute one of President Donald Trump's biggest perceived political foes. Comey was charged with allegedly communicating national defense information, and conspiring to transmit national defense information, according to newly unsealed court records. The charges were filed in federal court in Washington, DC, and appear to stem from actions Comey took in his capacity as FBI director roughly 10 years earlier.They also mark the third time Comey has been charged by the Justice Department since the start of Trump's second term last January.Comey was charged last year in the Eastern District of Virginia for allegedly making false statements to Congress, on the same day the statute of limitations for the charges was slated to expire. Later, he was charged for allegedly threatening Trump by way of an Instagram photo of seashells, arranged to depict the numbers '86 47.' The first case was ordered dismissed by a federal judge last year, and Comey has pleaded not guilty in the second case. He has assailed both efforts as the result of 'vindictive' and selective prosecutions by the Trump administration. Few details have been made public about the new charges. They were unsealed hours after a separate judge ruled that the Justice Department illegally fired his daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as an assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York last July. She was ordered reinstated to her role with back pay. This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for more.