Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged by federal prosecutors with transmission of national defence information and conspiracy to transmit national defence information, marking the third criminal case brought against him by President Donald Trump's administration, according to court documents made public.
The case, which played out under seal from October 5, accuses Comey of sharing sensitive national security details during his tenure as FBI chief.
The charges stem from an article published by The New York Times on October 5, 2016, concerning Yahoo's role in adapting spam filters to assist US intelligence surveillance.
Special Assistant US Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in a filing unsealed on Monday that Comey directed staff to contact reporter Charlie Savage to correct reporting that had appeared in Reuters, and "thereby illegally transferred classified information."
Dismissal motion
Comey's defence attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the counts are based exclusively on a disclosure that occurred exactly ten years before the government filed its criminal information.
The defence contends the case is time-barred by the statute of limitations, arguing that prosecutors were required to secure a grand jury indictment within ten years rather than filing charges via a criminal information.
Comey has not been indicted in the matter.
In a video statement released after the filings were made public, Comey dismissed the allegations: "Well, they're back again. It would almost be funny if it weren't such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to. Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary."
Comey has remained a prominent target of the Trump administration since opening the FBI investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, leading to his dismissal as director in May 2017.
This action is the third prosecution launched against him.
A previous case was dismissed by a judge, while another indictment in April charged him with making a threat against President Trump through an online image.
