The Justice Department filed a criminal information in federal court in Washington on Monday to extend the 10-year statute of limitations for a case accusing Comey of leaking classified information roughly a decade ago. The move signals an effort to bring what would be the third criminal case against Comey since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.
Comey, who served as FBI director under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush before being fired by Trump in May 2017, dismissed the effort as invalid and outside the legal time limit. In a video statement, he called it an "appalling abuse of the Department of Justice" and said, "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."
A Justice Department spokesperson defended the filing as a "widely recognized practice in federal court" approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals, adding that the investigation is ongoing and declining further comment. The documents unsealed Monday shed light on a legal fight that has played out behind closed doors over the past month.
Tensions between Trump and Comey date to the start of Trump's first term, including a private dinner where Comey said Trump asked for personal loyalty — a request Comey documented in a contemporaneous memo. Trump fired Comey amid the FBI's investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 campaign, an inquiry later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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