Comey's Lawyers Ask Court to Dismiss Third Federal Case, Citing 10-Year Statute of Limitations
Photo: NBC NewsAttorneys for former FBI Director James Comey appeared in federal court Friday to seek dismissal of the third criminal case the Trump administration has brought against him in the past 13 months. The latest case involves two alleged crimes dating to 2016, including an accusation that Comey, while FBI director, leaked classified information to a New York Times reporter. Comey denies the allegation. His lawyers argue there is no valid case because the government did not get a grand jury indictment before the 10-year statute of limitations expired. The Justice Department charged him using a rare move on the last day of that deadline, and a judge is weighing whether the approach holds up.
The first case, filed in September 2025 in the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown out after Lindsey Halligan, who had obtained the indictment, was found to have been unlawfully serving as a federal prosecutor. The second, in the Eastern District of North Carolina, charges Comey over an Instagram photo of seashells spelling "8647," which prosecutors called a threat against the president. Comey's team says it was not a threat; the judge has not ruled, and trial was pushed to 2027.
NBC News, on the left, leads with the court date and puts the case in a sequence of prosecutions. It describes Comey as a longtime Trump target since his firing nearly a decade ago, details the Halligan ruling and the seashells indictment, and explains that "86" is restaurant slang, which backs the defense's reading. Newsmax, on the right, headlines the matter as a "new espionage case" and describes it as the administration's latest attempt to prosecute him over alleged disclosure, with little of the history of the earlier cases in the excerpt. Both agree on the Friday hearing and the dismissal bid. They differ in that NBC stresses the pattern and the weaknesses of earlier cases, while Newsmax stresses the nature of the alleged offense. Straight Arrow News adds the last-day filing.
How the sides differ Left sources stress Comey's history of cases and Trump's long enmity; right sources frame it as an espionage case over alleged disclosure; alternative sources note the last-day filing.
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NBC News leads with the dismissal hearing and frames it as the third case against a longtime Trump foe, detailing the thrown-out Virginia case, the seashells indictment and the defense's statute-of-limitations argument.
- Straight Arrow NewsFormer FBI director seeks dismissal of latest charges filed by Trump admin
NewsNation reports the court appearance and the alleged 2016 leak to a New York Times reporter, which Comey denies. Straight Arrow News highlights the last-day charging and the judge weighing whether it holds up.
Newsmax headlines the case as a new espionage matter and describes it as the administration's latest attempt to prosecute Comey over alleged disclosure, noting his lawyers seek dismissal at Friday's hearing.