James Comey Gets Hit With Another Criminal Case and Still Doesn’t Get It

James Comey wants you to believe he’s the victim here. Again. The former FBI Director took to Instagram Monday to cry foul after the Justice Department filed a criminal information against him for allegedly spilling national defense secrets back in 2016. Called it an “appalling abuse” of the DOJ. Said he’s innocent and ready to fight. You know what’s actually appalling? The sheer audacity of a man who ran the nation’s premier law enforcement agency acting like basic accountability is somehow persecution.

The two-count criminal information filed in D.C. District Court alleges Comey knowingly and willfully communicated national defense information to someone not authorized to receive it on or about October 5, 2016. Prosecutors also claim he conspired with others to unlawfully disclose that same information. These aren’t small potatoes accusations. We’re talking about potential violations that strike at the heart of national security protocols that every government official swears to uphold.

Here’s the thing that grates. The DOJ had to file this criminal information just to preserve the allegations before the statute of limitations ran out. Think about that for a second. The clock was literally ticking down on whether Comey could ever face consequences for these alleged actions, so prosecutors had to move now while the investigation continues. This is standard legal practice, approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals, but Comey frames it like some midnight raid orchestrated by political enemies.

The irony here is thick enough to cut with a butter knife. This is the same James Comey who made a career out of positioning himself as the noble guardian of institutional integrity. The same guy who leaked memos about his conversations with President Trump through an intermediary to trigger a special counsel investigation. He justified those leaks by claiming they were his personal documents, not government property. The Justice Department Inspector General disagreed, finding he violated FBI policies. But Comey walked away from that one without charges.

Now we’re looking at attempt number three by the Trump administration’s DOJ to hold this man accountable. Third time. Let that sink in. The persistence alone tells you something about the strength of what investigators have uncovered. Federal prosecutors don’t keep coming back to the well on weak cases, especially not against someone with Comey’s profile and legal resources.

What really bothers people who still believe in equal justice under law is the double standard on display here. Regular government employees who mishandle classified information face immediate career consequences, security clearance revocations, sometimes jail time. Remember the Navy sailor who took photos inside a submarine and got a year behind bars? But when you’re part of the Washington elite, when you’ve got the right connections and the media willing to carry water for you, suddenly the rules become suggestions.

Comey says he believes in the independent federal judiciary and isn’t afraid. That’s wonderful. Most Americans believe in that same judiciary and would love to see it work impartially for once. They’d love to see someone who spent years in the highest echelons of power actually answer tough questions under oath about what he did and why he did it.

The national defense isn’t a toy. Information that falls under that classification exists in restricted channels for good reason. Lives depend on operational security. Intelligence sources need protection. Foreign adversaries constantly probe for weaknesses. When someone at Comey’s level allegedly disregards those safeguards, the damage ripples outward in ways the public never fully sees.

Related: Robert Reich Wants to Seize SpaceX and Musk Isn’t Playing Nice About It