Trump administration tries to prosecute former FBI director again

The Trump administration is trying to prosecute James Comey for what it calls a decade-old leak of classified information. The former FBI director’s lawyers immediately dismissed the effort as invalid and outside the legal time limit for when the Justice Department can file a criminal indictment.

The allegations from the Justice Department were revealed Monday in newly unsealed court documents. These documents shed light on a closed-door fight that represents an unmistakable escalation in the administration’s targeting of Comey, a longtime critic and foe of President Donald Trump.

The effort to prosecute Comey is also part of a series of politically charged investigative actions the department has undertaken in the run-up to next week’s midterm elections.

Comey said in a video statement that the administration is back, and that he is still innocent, still not afraid of these people, and still believes in the independent federal judiciary.

The Justice Department said it had filed what is known as a ‘criminal information’ to extend the statute of limitations for when it can permissibly bring an indictment.

Comey’s lawyers made clear that they intend to fight the charges as invalid and barred by a 10-year statute of limitations.

The latest allegation concerns an October 2016 New York Times story related to a secret court order that required Yahoo to scan emails for messages potentially linked to a foreign terrorist organization.

Federal authorities, including prosecutor John Durham, began investigating the disclosure in early 2017.

Durham, who later investigated the FBI’s conduct as it scrutinized potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, wrote a classified memo in December 2018 recommending no criminal charges against anyone in connection with the disclosure.

In January 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia opened a second investigation of the same matter under the code name ‘Tropical Vortex.’

The criminal information was filed under seal on Oct. 5, 10 years after the 2016 story was published.

Comey’s lawyers said that the applicable statute of limitations explicitly demands an indictment within 10 years of the offense; an information does not suffice.