Justice Department prices former FBI Director James Comey for third time

The Justice Department criminally charged James Comey over a decade-old allegation that he ordered his employees to leak categorised data to a reporter, the third time that prosecutors have levied prison allegations in opposition to the previous FBI director.

Comey is charged over allegedly leaking a delicate nationwide safety doc when he was FBI director in October 2016, in response to court docket data made public Monday, allegations that his attorneys mentioned have been investigated beforehand with out leading to prices.

“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,” Comey mentioned in a video he posted on-line shortly after the indictment turned public.

His protection attorneys, Patrick Fitzgerald and a staff of attorneys, launched a scathing joint assertion calling the indictment an unprecedented and baseless prosecution.

“The Justice Department has thoroughly investigated these exact allegations years ago and correctly determined there was no basis for criminal charges,” the attorneys mentioned.

“Reviving a decade-old matter to bring charges now is an alarming weaponization of the judicial system.”

The prices stem from occasions in late 2016 involving memos Comey wrote detailing non-public conversations with then-President-elect Donald Trump. According to the indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Comey directed a subordinate to share particulars containing categorised data with a media outlet.

This marks the third time the Justice Department has introduced separate prison allegations in opposition to Comey throughout ongoing authorized and political battles following his departure from the FBI in 2017.