What To Make Of The Latest Charges Against James Comey: Criminal Defense Attorney Breaks It Down

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1:01Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me once again is criminal defense attorney Danny Rubin. Danny, thanks so much for joining me. Brittany, thanks for having me on. Always good to be on with you guys. We had a similar conversation back in April, but the Department of Justice charged former FBI Director James Comey again. This time he was hit with two counts of violating the Espionage Act. He was accused of unlawfully transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so. This is the third time in President Trump's second term that he's faced federal charges.

1:34So to start off the conversation from the perspective of an attorney, what do you make of this news? Well, first and foremost, the Espionage Act is no joke. I mean, people are charged under this. It's not like it's a 300-year-old rule and no one's ever been charged under it. I mean, it happens. People who deal with sensitive information sometimes misuse it. They're on army bases or in some portion of the military or government, and they accidentally or purposefully release information that could damage the country. People are prosecuted under this all the time to varying degrees. The issue here is what was disclosed and is this really a case that the government can bring against former FBI Director James Comey?

2:17I think this is probably the shakiest case they have brought so far of the three. It's interesting you're saying this case is even shakier than that seashell formation one, but these charges originate from a 2016 New York Times article entitled this. Yahoo said to have aided U.S. email surveillance by adapting spam filter, and that was a follow-up to a Voiders report, and the DOJ said that their investigation uncovered evidence that claimed Comey directed staffers to talk to that Times reporter about accuracy concerns related to the Voiders report, and the former FBI director allegedly transferred classified information in the process.

2:55You're saying that this is a pretty shaky case. How so? It's shaky on a few grounds. The first is they waited more than 10 years to bring this case. Now, the stretch of limitations on this is, the stretch of limitations on most cases is five years. On these, it's 10. So they didn't even really bring an indictment. What they did was bring what's called the criminal information. Now, everyone's entitled to an indictment by a grand jury in a federal case, as long as it's a felony. And here, they didn't do that. They didn't do that because they want most likely they wanted to bring this case before the statute of limitations is run.

3:28But I don't think that they're going to be able to make this case because the statute, from my observation, has already run and James Comey didn't waive his right to an indictment. So I think this case might be procedurally dead on arrival. Further, I would imagine that any interview or item that is released by the FBI or CIA or DOJ is pre-screened when it comes to interviews, releases, and whatnot. There were probably some talking points that James Comey had when he talked to Yahoo that were pre-vetted. I don't know how in-depth the DOJ's research into this was, but I can't imagine that James Comey went off script for someone who's a career government official like he is.

4:23So I think it's telling that one, they brought this case at the very tail end and quite frankly, probably after they're allowed to, that they probably did only a modicum of research on it and that they waited 10 years to bring a case like this. I just, this case just seems like it's more indicative of harassment than anything else. I want to talk about that because as an attorney, why would you or a prosecutor, why would you bring a case that you're saying is dead on arrival? Because you would want to win, right? You would want the strongest case possible. Comey's been charged before in the past year and a half or so.

5:03This is now the third time he's faced federal charges. Why bring a case that's dead on arrival? Because he's already been charged twice, once was over that seashell formation we were talking about. He was charged with threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. And then he was also charged back in 2025 over making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. But that case was tossed. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday a song like all I want right okay we can't afford that you know what forget the music budget we're gonna stick with whatever's in the public domain give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch upfront payment of$45 for 3 months$90 for 6 months or$180 for 12 month plan required$15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms observe the North American dad 50's great polo collection He enters his vehicle information on Carvana.

6:06An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles, and says, Dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling. No hassle. No one called him boss. He's still on the couch. Astonishing. Sell your car today on Carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply. Well, I have nothing but great respect and admiration for the Department of Justice. I have colleagues in the US Attorney's Office who are incredible attorneys and they have a formidable allies in the FBI and DEA and all those alphabet related organizations. So to bring a case like this, I don't know exactly what they're thinking in that department because that's generally not what they do.

6:56Their cases usually take a lot of time to research, to investigate and ultimately they bring cases which generally are well-founded even if they can't prove them at trial. But they do go through that process. I don't know what they're thinking here. I can make some conjectures. It could be politically motivated. It could be weeks before the election. Midterm elections which are gonna most likely have some effect going forward on this country's legislative body. Again, that's my first conjecture. I don't know. I can only speculate. But to me, this is a case which James Comey is certainly going to fight.

7:41I think he's most certainly going to win. And I'm scratching my head as to why they would bring something as half-baked as this. And he's responded. He's maintained his innocence. And he this in a video. Well, they're back 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. What do you make of his response there? I think it's a very clever and well-put soundbite. The effect really is on this is the third time he's been prosecuted. The cases have been increasingly ridiculous. This is not just a ridiculous case, it might be a case they can't even bring because the statute of limitations is already run.

8:23So when he says, hey, I'm very concerned that the government is using its resources to persecute by prosecuting me, I'm concerned about that too. The government can use its resources, its considerable resources to go after anyone, anyone specific for some, I mean, pardon the pun, trumped up charge, then no one might be safe. I mean, he's ex-law enforcement. If you can't be safe as someone who is ex-law enforcement, even if you have a political position potentially, then who can be safe in this country? In every single headline that I've seen from this story, it's Comey charged for the third time, third time he faces federal charges in President Trump's second term or something of that sort.

9:15And I think when he says people could become numb to it, I mean, it is the third time in a year and a half. What type of precedent do you think this sets? I think it sets a very poor precedent for using the government's considerable resources to go after individuals that the administration might disagree with politically. um comey's kept to himself he hasn't sued the government for harassment he hasn't got up on a pedestal and said i've been outspoken about president trump or about the administration in any real real way but they keep poking this bear and each time they keep winning their cases they keep winning their defenses i don't know why they would keep poking this bear although it's somewhat indicative that they're doing this a week before the elections or really when the elections have already started in many states.

10:08So I don't know if it's there just to rile up a base or there to create some news or draw attention from somewhere else. But again, a half-baked, half-baked criminal information filing against someone who's already been prosecuted unsuccessfully twice before is very concerning to me. Danny Rubin, I always appreciate your analysis here. Thank you so much for joining the conversation and you're welcome back anytime. Thank you very much for having me. Hopefully see you soon.

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10:57Danny Rubin: starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like shopify they have the tools you need to start and grow your business from designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your$1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer.