DOJ Seeks to Charge Comey With Conspiring to Disclose National Defense Information

ABC News reported that the Justice Department is seeking to charge Comey with conspiring to disclose national defense information, according to its report DOJ seeking to charge Comey with conspiring to disclose national defense information. The headline describes the department as seeking the charge rather than as having brought it. ABC News is the sole source for the facts stated in this account.

According to ABC News, the case relates to disclosures published in the New York Times in 2016. The ABC News summary does not say which disclosures are involved, what information they contained, or who is alleged to have provided it to the newspaper. It also does not identify the court in which the charge would be brought.

The ABC News summary carries no author byline and is brief. It does not state whether a charge has been filed or whether any court has acted on the department's request. It does not describe a response from the Justice Department, the New York Times, or Comey, and no other outlet's account is available to confirm or dispute the details ABC News provides. Where the headline and summary leave a point open, this account leaves it open as well.

ABC News's account also does not explain the legal basis for the proposed charge. The story therefore rests on the single report from ABC News, which states that the Justice Department is seeking to charge Comey with conspiring to disclose national defense information and that the disclosures at issue were published by the New York Times in 2016. Any further facts would require additional reporting.

Sources: ABC News: DOJ seeking to charge Comey with conspiring to disclose national defense information.