Federal prosecutors have brought new charges against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, accusing him of mishandling national security information in October 2016 that they said ended up in a New York Times article, according to court papers unsealed on Monday.
The charges came in the form of a criminal information filed in Federal District Court in Washington earlier this month, the court records say. A criminal information is a way to file criminal charges against a defendant without yet seeking an indictment. Sometimes a criminal information indicates a person has tentatively agreed to plead guilty, but court records indicate in this case that Mr. Comey is fighting the allegations, saying prosecutors waited too long to bring them.
In a video posted online, Mr. Comey vowed to fight the charges.
“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people,” he said. The new case against him, he said, “would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to.”
The charging document accuses Mr. Comey of knowingly and willfully causing national defense information to be “communicated, delivered, and transmitted to a person not entitled to receive it” around Oct. 4 and 5 of 2016.
Court records show Mr. Comey’s lawyers had in recent weeks sought to get the charging document dismissed, but did not succeed. Lawyers for Mr. Comey said in court papers that the case centers on an alleged leak of national security information to The Times in early October 2016 — an issue that had previously been investigated and not led to charges.
The Trump administration is pursuing a separate criminal case against Mr. Comey for posting a photo of seashells on a beach last year. The shells were arranged to say “86 47,” which the Justice Department argues was a threat against President Trump.
The post Justice Dept. Brings More Charges Against Comey, Accusing Him of Leaks appeared first on New York Times.
