The federal judge assigned to James Comey’s criminal case gave the former FBI Director his first win on Monday.
A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted former FBI Director James Comey last month. He was indicted on two counts – false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
If convicted, James Comey is facing up to five years in prison.
Comey’s case was assigned to US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee.
On Sunday evening federal prosecutors signaled they may remove James Comey’s attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as his lead counsel because of his involvement in the former FBI Director’s leaks of classified information to the media through Daniel Richman.
Patrick Fitzgerald, a former US Attorney for the North District of Illinois, was involved in Comey’s illegal leaks to the media back in 2017.
DOJ prosecutors told the court that Comey used Patrick Fitzgerald to “improperly disclose classified information.”
“Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information,” Eastern District of Virginia prosecutors Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz wrote in a court filing on Sunday, according to Politico. “This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel.”
“The prosecutors asked the judge to quickly approve a proposal for a “filter team” of lawyers to sift through evidence in Comey’s criminal case that could clarify Fitzgerald’s role in the eight-year-old disclosures — without breaching Comey’s attorney-client privilege,” Politico reported.
Patrick Fitzgerald fired back at DOJ prosecutors and accused them of seeking to “defame” him through allegations he disclosed classified material to the media.
Later Monday Judge Michael Nachmanoff gave Comey a win and denied government prosecutors’ request to speed up the ‘filter team.’
“ORDERED that the government’s Motion for Expedited Ruling is DENIED;” the judge said.
“And it is further ORDERED that Defendant shall respond to the government’s Motion for Implementation of Filter Protocol (ECF 38) on or before October 27, 2025,” the judge added.
JUST IN: Incremental win for Comey as judge rejects prosecutors’ bid to speed up filter team protocol in Comey case, suggests prosecution could’ve moved sooner to prepare/speed case. Doc: https://t.co/w6qvtkA6hT Earlier: https://t.co/qJ8rmnuQ82
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) October 20, 2025