Two charges for disclosing classified national defense information. A federal indictment filed October 5 in the District Court for the District of Columbia. And James Comey, former FBI Director, responded the way he always does — by logging on and telling the world how brave he is.
"Well, they're back again," Comey posted. That's his opening line. Not a denial of the specific charges. Not a rebuttal of the evidence. A sigh.
The indictment centers on an allegation that the former FBI Director illegally transferred classified information to a reporter at the New York Times. According to Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak's filing, "The United States' investigation has uncovered evidence that former FBI Director, James B. Comey, sought to correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before." The filing continues: Comey "directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage about specific accuracy concerns related to the Reuters article, and thereby illegally transferred classified information."
The Reuters article in question was published October 5, 2016 — right in the thick of a presidential election. Comey's alleged response was to contact the New York Times to set the record straight, using classified national defense information as his correction fluid.
That's the kind of thing that gets regular people sent to prison. For Comey, it was apparently just another Tuesday managing press coverage.
Comey's full statement is worth reading for what it reveals about the man. "It would almost be funny if it weren't such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to. Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary."
Still innocent. Still not afraid. Still believes in the independent federal judiciary. The man sounds like he's writing a book jacket, not answering a federal indictment. Every sentence is calibrated for the audience that already agrees with him. None of it addresses the actual allegation — that he directed the transfer of classified material to a journalist.
Comey's lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss, arguing lack of a grand jury indictment and claiming the statute of limitations has expired. The case landed before Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, in D.C. federal court.
The statute of limitations defense is the legal equivalent of "you can't prove it because it was too long ago." It doesn't mean it didn't happen. It means the clock ran. Whether that argument survives McFadden's courtroom is another question entirely.
This is the same James Comey who previously faced charges of false statements to Congress in the Eastern District of Virginia — a case that was dismissed. The same Comey who caught a separate case in North Carolina over an Instagram post. Three federal cases from three different angles, and each time the response is identical: I'm being persecuted, I'm very brave, the institutions will save me.
At some point, the pattern stops looking like political targeting and starts looking like a man who spent decades at the top of federal law enforcement and still can't keep classified information where it belongs.
Comey built his public image on being the last honest man in Washington. The guy who stood up to presidents. The keeper of memos. The man so committed to the rule of law that he documented everything.
Three indictments in. The memos are evidence now.
