DOJ charges Comey for third time
The third indictment of James Comey lands with a thud, partly because it took so long to get here. The events in question date back to 2016, when Comey was still running the FBI, and the newly unsealed documents describe two counts of transmitting and conspiring to transmit national defense information. That's a serious charge, the kind that carries real prison time if proven.
What I find striking is how the story splits along familiar lines. Comey's defenders will see this as the DOJ piling on a man who crossed the wrong people, especially given the department's own history of controversy over the past several years. His critics will say the repeated charges reflect a genuine pattern of loose handling of classified material that has finally caught up with him. Both readings are plausible, and the court documents will determine which one holds up.
I'd want to know what specific information Comey is accused of disclosing and to whom, because that detail changes the whole calculus. Without knowing the substance, it's hard to judge whether this is a politically charged prosecution or a straightforward national security case. The federal judge's next move will be worth watching.