James Comey charged a third time: DOJ complaint alleges he leaked national defense information

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with federal crimes for the third time, according to a court filing made public Monday, CNBC reported. NBC News, CBS News, Axios, Forbes, The Guardian and the Financial Times all carried the news Monday afternoon.

What the complaint says

The criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Per CNBC, it charges Comey with knowingly communicating information related to national defense to a person not entitled to receive it, and with conspiring with others to violate the law against sharing such information.

The filing says Comey, "through one or more co-conspirators," directed an unnamed individual "to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication." The complaint as described by CNBC does not name that individual or the publication. A complaint is a set of allegations, not a finding, and Comey has not been convicted of anything in this case.

Comey's response

In a video message posted to Substack, Comey said: "Well, they're back, again." He called the case "an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice" and said: "I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary." We did not find a Justice Department statement on the new complaint in the sources we read; we will add one if it is issued.

The two earlier cases

• September 2025, Virginia: a grand jury indicted Comey on a false-statement and obstruction charge tied to his Sept. 30, 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony. A judge dismissed it on Nov. 24, 2025, ruling that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who obtained it, had been invalidly appointed. The same judge dismissed an unrelated Halligan-obtained indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James that day, per CNBC.
• April 2026, North Carolina: Comey was charged with threatening the president over an Instagram photo of seashells arranged as "86 47." Prosecutors say "86" is code for killing the 47th president; Comey denies wrongdoing and is asking the judge to dismiss the case. That motion is pending.

The new complaint surfaced hours after a federal judge in New York ruled the Justice Department had unlawfully fired Comey's daughter, Maurene Comey, from the Southern District of New York. We covered that ruling separately: Judge rules Trump DOJ unlawfully fired Maurene Comey.

What to watch next

• Whether a grand jury returns a formal indictment. A complaint can start a case, but felony prosecutions generally proceed to a grand jury or a preliminary hearing.
• Comey's first court appearance and any ruling on release conditions.
• The ruling on his motion to dismiss the North Carolina indictment.
• Whether the defense challenges the case as vindictive prosecution. That is a common defense argument in politically charged cases, but nothing in the sources we read says one has been filed here.

The president and Comey have been fierce critics of each other since Trump fired him in 2017, CNBC noted. Supporters of the Justice Department say prosecutors follow the evidence; Comey and his allies describe the cases as retaliation. Courts, not either side, will decide what the evidence supports.

Sources: CNBC; same-day coverage from NBC News, CBS News, Axios, Forbes, The Guardian and the Financial Times confirming the charge. Allegations are attributed as reported. This is news information, not legal advice.