A federal judge on Friday considered whether to throw out criminal allegations filed against former FBI Director James Comey, as federal prosecutors signaled they may broaden their case to include actions through early 2017, according to court proceedings reported by ABC News and CNN.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden heard nearly two hours of oral arguments in Washington over the Justice Department’s decision to bring allegations against Comey using a criminal information rather than securing a grand jury indictment. The proceeding marked the government’s third attempt to prosecute Comey across a 13-month stretch, following public demands by President Donald Trump for legal action against perceived political rivals, ABC News reported.
Dispute Over the Clock
The Justice Department filed the criminal information in early October, accusing Comey of unlawfully directing agency personnel to disclose classified details to The New York Times in October 2016. According to unsealed filings, the alleged disclosure aimed to correct a Reuters story concerning a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order involving Yahoo customer communications.
Comey’s legal team argued that prosecutors improperly used the criminal information—which lacks grand jury review—solely to pause the ticking clock on the 10-year statute of limitations under the Espionage Act. In court on Friday, defense counsel insisted federal law does not permit bypassing the grand jury to beat that deadline, CNN reported.
Justice Department attorney Dustin Farahnak countered that prosecutors are actively working to obtain an indictment from a grand jury in Washington. Farahnak also told the court that investigators recently uncovered materials dating as late as April 2017, ABC News reported. If incorporated into the case, that timeline could extend the government’s filing window by another six months.
Prosecutors told the court that new details had emerged since a 2018 inquiry led by former Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, which concluded without charges, according to CNN. Government attorneys did not clarify whether that evidence came after a subsequent review conducted later in Trump’s first presidential term, which likewise ended without an indictment.
Warnings from the Bench
During Friday’s session, McFadden pointed to the Justice Department’s recent struggles to persuade Washington grand juries to return indictments. Earlier in the week, a local grand jury declined to approve charges against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, CNN reported.
Referencing a classic legal aphorism about the ease of securing grand jury approvals, McFadden remarked that “ham sandwiches are harder to indict these days,” according to ABC News.
Defense attorneys also raised alarms about an ongoing presence of FBI vehicles parked outside Comey’s residence for unexplained reasons, suggesting he lived under the shadow of an imminent arrest. The disclosure prompted McFadden to issue a firm warning to the Justice Department, stating he would be “extremely frustrated if there is some dawn raid” at Comey’s home, ABC News reported. Farahnak assured the judge that no such action would take place.
Ongoing Legal Battles
The media-leak allegations are part of an extensive series of legal battles involving the former director. Comey was indicted in September 2025 over allegations of obstruction and making false statements during 2020 congressional testimony, but that case was dismissed after a judge found the Trump-appointed prosecutor had been unlawfully installed, ABC News reported.
Comey also faces an April indictment in North Carolina regarding an Instagram photograph depicting the digits “86 47” written in beach shells, which prosecutors characterized as a threat directed at the president. Comey quickly removed the post and stated he opposed violence, with his next court appearance in that proceeding set for January.
McFadden did not immediately rule on Comey’s motion to dismiss the leak case. Under the Speedy Trial Act, the government faces a potential deadline next Thursday to secure a formal indictment before the existing information must be resolved.
