Could the long shadow of James Comey’s FBI tenure finally catch up with him? The Justice Department is on the brink of a pivotal decision regarding whether to indict the former FBI director in the Eastern District of Virginia over allegations of lying to Congress and leaking classified information.
Just The News reported that federal prosecutors are weighing charges against Comey for actions during and after his time at the FBI, including misleading testimony and unauthorized disclosures to the media.
Let’s rewind to the start of this saga, back to May 2017, when Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Chairman Chuck Grassley pressed him on whether he’d ever been an anonymous source or authorized leaks related to the Trump or Clinton investigations. Comey’s flat “Never” and “No” responses are now under intense scrutiny.
Fast forward to September 2020, and Comey doubled down on those denials during another Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Senator Ted Cruz didn’t mince words, pointing out that fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe publicly claimed Comey knew about and authorized leaks to the Wall Street Journal. If both can’t be true, who’s spinning the tale?
Cruz’s challenge cuts deep, especially with a DOJ Inspector General report from April 2018 revealing McCabe’s own lack of candor. That report detailed how McCabe misled investigators about leaking sensitive Clinton Foundation info to the press in October 2016, claiming he discussed it with Comey the next day without pushback.
Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in March 2018, just shy of his retirement, though no charges followed in 2020. Meanwhile, a second Inspector General report from August 2019 slammed Comey for leaking memos about Trump’s comments on Mike Flynn, explicitly aiming to force a special counsel appointment.
Comey even admitted to hoping for that outcome, which materialized with Robert Mueller’s swift appointment. Inspector General Michael Horowitz didn’t hold back in that 2019 report, criticizing Comey for bypassing lawful options to push his agenda through unauthorized disclosures.
“Comey’s leaks were an attempt to force the Department to take official investigative actions,” Horowitz concluded. That’s not leadership; it’s playing political chess with sensitive information.
Adding fuel to the fire, Just the News recently uncovered that Comey’s adviser, Daniel Richman, admitted to federal agents that he communicated with the New York Times on Comey’s behalf.
Richman’s goal? To “correct stories critical of Comey” and shape media narratives outside official channels—a questionable sidestep of protocol at best.
Richman also had access to highly classified information, up to the SCI level, and while he insists he didn’t leak it, internal FBI memos suggest otherwise.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel handed these memos over to Congress, shining a harsh light on past actions. If this isn’t a breach of trust, what is?
Recent developments show this isn’t just speculation—two weeks ago, Richman was subpoenaed as part of a criminal probe. Evidence from Comey’s top lieutenants, like ex-FBI general counsel James Baker, indicates Comey may have authorized leaks of classified data before the 2016 election.
Documents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service further suggest Baker believed he was acting on Comey’s instructions. Last week, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik S. Siebert resigned, reportedly under pressure from the Trump administration to pursue charges against Comey.
President Trump, who has long accused Comey of breaking the law by sharing classified memos with the press, replaced Siebert with White House attorney Lindsey Halligan on an interim basis. The timing raises eyebrows, but the stakes couldn’t be higher.
If an indictment moves forward, sources say it will likely include a charge of lying to Congress, tied to Comey’s 2020 testimony denying leak authorizations. With the five-year statute of limitations on that charge looming just days away, the clock is ticking. Will justice be served, or will this be another dodged consequence?
Trump’s vocal stance on Comey’s alleged misconduct isn’t new—he’s consistently claimed the former director mishandled classified information.
Past DOJ decisions, including a 2021 choice not to charge Comey and earlier refusals to prosecute McCabe, have frustrated conservatives seeking accountability for what they see as a politicized FBI. Is this finally the moment for reckoning?