SAEDNEWS: The US Justice Department has filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey for the third time, accusing him of leaking national defense information in October 2016, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
According to Saednews, A criminal information containing two counts was filed under seal on October 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. According to Anadolu Agency, the document accuses James Comey of knowingly and deliberately sharing, transferring, or causing the transmission of information to someone who was not legally authorized to receive it.
Prosecutors claim that on October 5, 2016, Comey worked with at least one alleged co-conspirator to instruct an individual identified as “Individual #1” to provide national defense information to a journalist working for a major news organization.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the information was subsequently published in an article by The New York Times.
The legal filing was signed by R. Trent McCotter, who is serving as acting deputy attorney general.
The Justice Department explained that the document was submitted on the tenth anniversary of the alleged disclosure to preserve the prosecution’s ability to pursue the case before the statute of limitations expired. The department is seeking to obtain a grand jury indictment.
Comey has asked the court to dismiss the case through sealed proceedings. He argues that prosecutors must secure an indictment within the ten-year legal deadline and that filing a criminal information does not meet that requirement.
In their court submission, Comey’s attorneys emphasized that an indictment and a criminal information are legally distinct procedures.
In a video shared on social media, Comey criticized the case, saying that the situation would be nearly amusing if it did not represent such a serious misuse of the Justice Department. He added that people must not become accustomed to such conduct or stop treating it as a matter of concern.
Comey maintained that his position had not changed, reiterating that he was innocent, that he was not intimidated by those pursuing the case, and that he continued to have confidence in the independence of the federal judiciary.
When reporters asked President Donald Trump about the allegations as he arrived at Joint Base Andrews following a rally in Mississippi, he said he knew very little about the matter and had only recently heard about it.
Trump also described Comey as a “dirty cop,” while stressing that he had no further knowledge of the case.
