在过去的一个月里，一场关于司法部正在对前美国联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米进行调查的法律斗争一直在闭门进行，该调查涉及十多年前对机密信息的不当处理。
根据新公布的法庭记录，检察官指控科米违反了法律，他指示美国联邦调查局的工作人员向《纽约时报》的一名记者泄露信息文章发表于2016年10月5日，题为“雅虎称通过调整垃圾邮件过滤器帮助美国电子邮件监控。”
“美国的调查发现了前美国联邦调查局导演詹姆斯·b·科米（James B． Comey）试图纠正媒体前一天通过路透社（Reuters）发布的错误信息的证据，”检察官在回应科米本月早些时候提出的驳回动议时写道科米先生指示工作人员与［纽约时报记者］谈论与路透社文章有关的具体准确性问题，从而非法转移机密信息。＂
这篇有问题的文章集中在司法部是否寻求外国情报监视法庭的法庭命令，以迫使雅虎搜索外国恐怖组织成员之间的通信。根据法庭文件，科米试图纠正路透社前一天发表的一篇报道中的说法，即雅虎“秘密建立了一个定制软件程序，在所有客户的电子邮件中搜索美国情报官员提供的特定信息。＂
司法部的检察官通过所谓的“犯罪信息”对科米提出指控，这不需要大陪审团的批准。它于10月5日被封存。
司法部的律师认为，通过在被指控的罪行发生后10年内提交犯罪信息，他们停止了诉讼时效的计时，并获得了长达一个月的延期以确保起诉。
“该部门提交了一份无豁免刑事信息，以超过诉讼时效，因为它涉及到对前美国联邦调查局导演科米的指控。提起刑事诉讼以超过诉讼时效是联邦法院普遍认可的做法，并得到了多个巡回上诉法院的批准。这是一项正在进行的刑事调查，我们不会进一步置评，”司法部的一个账户在社交媒体上表示。
然而，科米的律师认为，提供犯罪信息的法定时效实际上在五年前就已过期，检察官援引的延长时效规则仅适用于起诉。他们还认为，华盛顿特区巡回法院没有批准通过刑事信息来取消诉讼时效的做法。
科米的律师在驳回申请的动议中写道，“因为联邦重罪的默认五年诉讼时效早已过去，政府的信息不符合延长十年诉讼时效的明确法定要求，这些信息不及时，必须驳回。”
检察官反驳了这一论点，声称正在讨论的联邦法律适用于起诉书和信息，并认为联邦法律中的“这个案件可以归结为一个三段论”。
“鉴于间谍犯罪的严重性，以及之前的诉讼时效期限在捕捉威胁这个国家的叛国行为方面的不足，国会打算延长起诉间谍行为的时间——而不是通过工具来分割时间，”检察官写道。
科米还面临联邦大陪审团威胁特朗普的联邦指控起诉今年4月，科米受到两项指控，此前他在自己的Instagram账户上发布了一张照片，上面写着“8647”，联邦检察官说构成了威胁反对总统的生活。
科米的律师正试图驳回该案。他的辩护律师认为，特朗普一再呼吁起诉科米并批评他的公开声明“毫无疑问地表明了他的真实敌意”，并表明针对他涉嫌通过在海滩上张贴贝壳照片威胁要杀死特朗普的案件是报复。
“随后的起诉不是基于对事实真诚地适用法律；相反，它实现了总统长达一年的运动，利用刑事程序惩罚科米先生受保护的言论，因为总统根深蒂固的敌意，”科米的律师写道。
DOJ seeks to charge Comey with conspiring to disclose national defense information
Over the last month， a legal fight has been playing out behind closed doors about the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into former FBI Director James Comey over the alleged mishandling of classified information dating back more than a decade ago．
According to newly unsealed court records， prosecutors allege that Comey broke the law by directing FBI staff to leak information to a New York Times reporter for anarticlepublished on Oct． 5， 2016， titled “Yahoo Said to Have Aided U．S． Email Surveillance by Adapting Spam Filter．”
“The United States＇ investigation has uncovered evidence that former FBI Director， James B． Comey， sought to correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before，” prosecutors wrote in their response to Comey’s motion to dismiss earlier this month． “Mr． Comey directed staff to speak to ［the New York Times reporter］ about specific accuracy concerns related to the Reuters article， and thereby illegally transferred classified information．”
The article in question centered on whether the Department of Justice sought a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to force Yahoo to search for communications between members of a foreign terrorist organization． According to court filings， Comey sought to correct claims in a Reuters story published the previous day that Yahoo “secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers＇ incoming emails for specific information provided by U．S． intelligence officials．”
Prosecutors with the Department of Justice filed the charges against Comey via what＇s known as a “criminal information，” which does not require the approval of a grand jury． It was filed under seal on Oct． 5．
Department of Justice lawyers argue that by filing a criminal information within 10 years of the alleged crime， they stopped the clock on the statute of limitations and secured a months-long extension to secure an indictment．
“The Department filed a waiverless criminal information to toll the statute of limitations as it relates to allegations concerning former FBI Director Comey． Filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals． This is an ongoing criminal investigation， and we will not comment further，” a Department of Justice account said on social media．
However， Comey’s lawyers argue that the statute of limitations to bring a criminal information actually expired five years agoc and the rule prosecutors cited to secure an extension only applies to indictments．They also argued that the Washington， D．C．， Circuit Court has not approved the practice of tolling the statute of limitations via a criminal information．
“Because the default five-year statute of limitations for federal felonies has long since elapsed on the alleged offenses， and the government＇s information does not meet the express statutory requirement for an extended ten-year limitations period， the information is untimely and must be dismissed，” Comey’s lawyers wrote in their motion to dismiss．
Prosecutors pushed back on that argument， claiming that the federal law in question applies to both indictments and informations and arguing that “the case comes down to a syllogism＂ in federal law．
“Given the seriousness of espionage offenses， and given the deficiencies of the prior statute-of-limitations period in capturing treasonous conduct threatening this nation， Congress intended to lengthen the time to prosecute acts of espionage – not to split that time by instrument，” prosecutors wrote．
Comey also faces federal charges of threatening Trump after a federal grand juryindictedComey on two charges in April after he posted a picture on his Instagram account of seashells spelling out ＂8647，＂ which federal prosecutors sayconstituted a threatagainst the president＇s life．
Comey＇s lawyers are seeking to have that case thrown out． His defense lawyers argued that Trump＇s repeated calls for Comey＇s prosecution and criticism of his public statement ＂leave no doubt as to his genuine animus＂ and demonstrate that the case against him for allegedly threatening to kill Trump by posting photos of seashells on a beach is vindictive．
＂The ensuing indictment is not based on a good faith application of the law to the facts； instead， it effectuates a yearslong campaign by the President to use the criminal process to punish Mr． Comey for his protected speech and because of the President＇s deep-seated animosity，＂ Comey＇s lawyers wrote．
