by Kevin Killough
The Justice Department on Friday told a federal judge overseeing a new case against former FBI Director James Comey that it is working on obtaining a grand jury indictment based on new evidence it gathered in the case concerning alleged leads to the media.
Comey is charged with allegedly conspiring to share sensitive information with a media outlet in 2016 to correct reporting from another news outlet, CNN reported.
The charges were brought in early October through what is known as an information, which means that no judge or grand jury approved the charges. Until that happens, the case cannot be brought forward.
After being charged, Comey said in a video message that the Trump administration is back at it again.
“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 said.
“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. And I’m still lucky to have an amazing family and an incredible group of lawyers and will stand up in court and fight the latest. And whatever comes after this, the next couple of years are going to be hard for all of us. It’s really important that we stand straight and keep the faith in America,” he explained.
Attorneys with the Justice Department told the court they are considering charging Comey with alleged crimes that occurred after October 2016, which would extend the current statute of limitations the current charges are beholden to. There is a 10-year deadline on bringing charges under the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors claimed Friday they received new information since the investigation of the same alleged crime. The prosecutor in that investigation declined to bring charges in 2018. The attorneys said Friday that the new information came after a second investigation into the alleged lead that was done later in the first Trump administration and also didn’t result in charges.
Attorneys for Comey told district Judge Trevor McFadden that the underlying law in the case doesn’t allow for a charge to be brought by information in order to pause the statute of limitations deadline.
McFadden pressed Comey’s attorney on why he shouldn’t wait to let the Justice Department see if it can secure an indictment against Comey through a grand jury. Comey’s attorney said that FBI agents are surveilling his home and the case is “hanging over” his head.
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Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
