Trump administration tries to prosecute former FBI director James Comey for 3rd time

The Associated Press

· Posted: Oct 26, 2026 6:52 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Trump administration is attempting to prosecute former FBI director James Comey for what it calls disclosing classified information, employing the unusual manoeuver of bypassing a grand jury — a move Comey's lawyers say makes the case legally invalid.

The allegations from the U.S. Justice Department came in documents unsealed Monday in federal court in Washington.

It would be the third criminal case that the Justice Department has brought against the longtime critic and foe of President Donald Trump since the Republican president's return to the White House last year.

"Well, they're back — again," Comey said in a video statement released after the documents dropped. "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 an independent federal judiciary."

The Justice Department, for its part, said it had filed what's known as a criminal information to extend the 10-year statute of limitations for bringing a case.

"Filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals. This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further," a department spokesperson said.

The new ‌case adds to the legal fights facing Comey, whom the Justice Department has already charged twice, accusing him of lying to Congress about media leaks and threatening Trump in ​a social media post.

A judge dismissed the false statements case, while the threats ⁠case remains pending.

Trump wanted pledge of loyalty

Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been appointed by then-president Barack Obama, and serving before that as a senior Justice Department official in President George W. Bush's Republican administration.

A judge ruled Monday that Comey's daughter, Maurene Comey, seen here in May 2025, was illegally fired by the Trump administration from her position as assistant U.S. attorney. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

But the relationship was strained from the start, including after Comey resisted a request by Trump at a private dinner to pledge his personal loyalty to the president — an overture that so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017 amid an FBI investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's campaign. That inquiry, later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, found that while Russia interfered in the 2016 election and the Trump team welcomed the help, there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal collaboration.

News of the new case against Comey came the same day a judge ruled the Trump administration illegally fired Comey's daughter, Maurene, as a Justice Department prosecutor.