Former FBI Director James Comey is facing federal criminal charges for the third time under the Trump administration after prosecutors accused him of transmitting national defense information and conspiracy to commit the same offense.
The charges were filed under seal on October 5 and only recently became public knowledge. Comey has not been formally indicted in connection with this latest case.
Comey’s legal team moved quickly in response, filing a motion to dismiss the charges last week. His attorneys are pushing to have the case thrown out before it advances further through the federal court system.
The new charges mark an escalation in the long-running legal conflict between Comey and the Trump administration. Comey has been a repeated target of the administration dating back to his role overseeing the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election.
President Trump fired Comey from his position as FBI Director in May 2017, a move that drew widespread scrutiny and ultimately contributed to the appointment of a special counsel. The two have remained at odds ever since.
This is the third separate federal case brought against Comey by prosecutors during the current Trump administration. The accumulation of charges has drawn criticism from legal observers and civil liberties advocates who argue the prosecutions amount to politically motivated targeting of a government critic.
The case involving national defense information is being handled in federal court in Washington D.C. Details about the specific allegations remain limited given the case was sealed for several weeks before becoming public.
Comey has not made a public statement regarding the latest charges at this time. The matter is still developing as his defense team pursues dismissal of the case.