Former FBI director James Comey has been charged in three federal cases since September 2025. The first, over his 2020 Senate testimony, was dismissed in November 2025 after a judge found the prosecutor who brought it was unlawfully appointed, and the government is appealing. A second case in North Carolina over a 2025 Instagram post and a third in Washington over a 2016 news story are pending. Comey denies all the charges and is presumed innocent.
As of 1 November 2026 Comey has been convicted of nothing. The Virginia case is dismissed without prejudice and the Fourth Circuit had not ruled after hearing the government's appeal on 15 September. The North Carolina threats case awaits rulings on motions to dismiss, with arraignment set for the January 2027 term, and the Washington information faces a pending motion to dismiss.
James Comey, who was fired as FBI director in 2017, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The later indictment alleges he falsely said he had not authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports.
Comey posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read 86 47 and later deleted it, saying he had not realized some people associate the numbers with violence. Administration officials said he was advocating Trump's assassination, and Secret Service agents interviewed him, the Associated Press reported.
Erik Siebert resigned as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia hours after President Trump said "I want him out", AFP and The New York Times reported. Citing officials familiar with the matter, The Washington Post reported that Siebert had told Justice Department leaders he was declining to prosecute Comey over the allegation that he lied to Congress, according to AFP.
In social media posts days before the indictment, President Trump complained to Attorney General Pam Bondi that Comey had not been charged and wrote that delay was hurting the administration's reputation and credibility, the Associated Press reported.
Bondi swore in Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former personal lawyer to Trump with no prior prosecutorial experience, as interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, NPR and the Associated Press reported.
A federal grand jury in Alexandria returned a two-count indictment (1:25-CR-272) signed by Halligan, charging Comey with making a false statement to Congress (18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2)) and obstructing a congressional proceeding (18 U.S.C. 1505). Each count carries up to five years in prison. The five-year limitation period for the 2020 testimony was due to run out days later.
US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia Roll Call
PBS NewsHour (Associated Press)The grand jury declined to indict on a third proposed count of false statements, tied to separate testimony, according to a court document reported by Roll Call and NPR. Halligan was the only prosecutor to present the case to the grand jury, according to government court papers cited by NPR.
Comey's lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald said Comey denied the charges. Trump wrote that Comey was "at the beginning of being held responsible", and Bondi said no one is above the law, Roll Call reported.
Comey pleaded not guilty through his lawyer at his arraignment in federal court in Alexandria before US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who presides over the case. Trial was set for 5 January 2026, and Comey was released without conditions, NPR reported.
Comey's lawyers moved to dismiss the case, arguing that it was a vindictive and selective prosecution and that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed. Prosecutors denied that Halligan acted as anyone's puppet and said she acted independently. No ruling was made on the vindictiveness claim before the case was dismissed, CBS News reported.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered the government to give Comey's lawyers the grand jury materials, saying two statements Halligan made to the grand jurors appeared on their face to be fundamental misstatements of law. Prosecutors called the order contrary to law and sought a stay from Judge Nachmanoff.
At a hearing before Judge Nachmanoff, Halligan acknowledged that only the foreperson and one other grand juror saw the revised two-count indictment. Prosecutors called it a paperwork issue. Defence lawyer Michael Dreeben argued no valid indictment had been returned. The judge did not rule from the bench.
Senior US District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie of South Carolina, sitting by designation, ruled that Halligan was unlawfully appointed because the 120-day interim term that began with her predecessor had expired, and set aside the indictments of Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The dismissal was without prejudice. The judge suggested a new Comey indictment could be barred because the limitation period had expired, CBS News and Axios reported.
Comey said in a video that he was grateful the case had ended. Bondi promised an immediate appeal, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the department would appeal, NPR and the Associated Press reported.
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington issued a temporary restraining order barring the Justice Department from accessing files it had seized from a Columbia University law professor and friend of Comey, which prosecutors had cited in the indictment, the Associated Press reported. The order did not bar a new indictment.
The Justice Department filed notices of appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit against the dismissals in the Comey and Letitia James cases, CBS News and Axios reported. Halligan was listed on the notices as US Attorney and special attorney, CBS reported.
Bondi announced that Halligan was leaving the department after US District Judge David Novak ordered her to stop using the US Attorney title in filings and threatened disciplinary action, Reuters and ABC News reported. Bondi blamed senators for blocking a longer term.
In a filing to the Fourth Circuit, Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche argued the department may make successive interim appointments and that Comey and Letitia James were charged by grand jurors acting independently of Halligan, ABC News reported. The government also argues any appointment error was harmless, Bloomberg Law reported.
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted Comey (4:26-CR-16) on one count of threatening the president (18 U.S.C. 871(a)) and one count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce (18 U.S.C. 875(c)) over the May 2025 seashell post. The Justice Department said he faces up to 10 years if convicted and is presumed innocent.
PBS NewsHour (Associated Press)Carolina JournalCounsel for James Comey (court filing, via CarolActing Attorney General Todd Blanche said prosecutors would prove intent with witnesses and documents. Comey's legal team said he vigorously denies the charges, and Comey said in a video that he remained innocent, the Associated Press reported.
Comey appeared before a magistrate judge in federal court in Alexandria, who released him without special conditions, Reuters reported. The government did not seek detention, Bloomberg Law reported. Fitzgerald said the defence would argue vindictive prosecution.
Reuters (via KSL)Bloomberg LawCounsel for James Comey (court filing, via CarolA court order set arraignment for 30 June and trial for 15 July 2026, according to a later defence filing. Comey waived an initial appearance before the North Carolina court, according to Raw Story's account of the docket.
US District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan granted an unopposed defence request moving the arraignment to 30 September and the trial to 21 October 2026, ABC News reported. The order also extended the deadline for pretrial motions to 28 July.
Comey's lawyers asked Judge Flanagan to dismiss the indictment, arguing the post was political speech and not a true threat and that the prosecution was vindictive and selective. They also sought grand jury disclosure and a Franks hearing to challenge a search warrant. The Justice Department argues a jury should decide whether the image is a threat.
Comey asked for arraignment in the January 2027 term and trial in February 2027 and agreed to exclude the delay from speedy trial limits. The government did not oppose but asked that the filing note it was ready for trial on the existing schedule.
A three-judge Fourth Circuit panel in Richmond heard argument on whether Halligan was lawfully appointed and, if not, whether the indictments must fall, Reuters reported. Justice Department lawyer Henry Whitaker urged the court to respect the grand juries' decisions. Defence lawyers argued Halligan acted in effect as a private citizen, IBTimes UK reported.
Judge Flanagan postponed the arraignment to January 2027, finding the ends of justice outweighed the interest in a speedy trial, and said she would set a trial date after arraignment if Comey pleads not guilty, Raw Story and The National News Desk reported. She wrote that the motions were ripe for decision, Raw Story and The New York Times reported.
Federal prosecutors filed a sealed criminal information, not a grand jury indictment, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, charging Comey with transmitting and conspiring to transmit national defense information, NBC News and the Australian Associated Press reported. Prosecutors allege he directed staff to speak to a New York Times reporter about accuracy concerns before a 5 October 2016 article, NBC News reported. A Justice Department spokesperson said the filing was meant to pause the limitation period.
Comey's lawyers moved to dismiss the information, Reuters, NBC News and the Australian Associated Press reported. According to NBC News, the motion was filed about 10 days before the case was unsealed and argues the charges are time-barred because no grand jury indictment was obtained within 10 years. A Justice Department spokesperson called filing an information for this purpose a widely recognized practice.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden unsealed the case at the request of Comey's lawyers, NBC News and Fox News reported. He has not ruled on the motion to dismiss, Fox News reported. Reuters also reported the charges. Comey has not been indicted in this case and is presumed innocent.
Fitzgerald said the information was approved by neither a judge nor a grand jury, NBC News reported. Comey said in a video that the case was an appalling abuse of the Justice Department and that he was still innocent. Asked by reporters, Trump called Comey "a dirty cop" but said he did not know much about the case, the Australian Associated Press reported.
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