Federal prosecutors are gunning to boot James Comey’s top defense lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, from a high-stakes criminal case that’s already dripping with political intrigue, as Fox News reports.
The crux of this drama in the Eastern District of Virginia is a motion to potentially remove Fitzgerald due to a conflict of interest tied to his long history with Comey, alongside felony charges against the former FBI director for making a false statement and obstruction.
Let’s rewind to 2017, when Comey, after being fired by President Donald Trump during his first term as FBI director, shared sensitive details with his legal team, including Fitzgerald.
Prosecutors argue that Fitzgerald’s deep ties to Comey, including their overlapping tenure as federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, raise red flags about his role in those post-firing disclosures.
Some of that shared information was later deemed classified, per a 2019 Justice Department Inspector General report, though it found no evidence that Comey or his lawyers leaked anything to the press.
Still, the Justice Department declined to charge Comey with illegal disclosure back then, which makes this renewed push to sideline Fitzgerald feel like a bit of a legal curveball.
On Sunday, federal prosecutors pressed U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to fast-track a “filter team” of attorneys to sift through privileged materials in Comey’s case and assess Fitzgerald’s involvement.
They’re not mincing words, either, with assistant U.S. attorneys Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz stating, “Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information.”
That’s a spicy accusation, but let’s not forget the 2019 report’s conclusion—there’s no proof of wrongdoing in terms of media leaks, so is this just a tactic to rattle Comey’s defense?
Comey’s legal squad, unsurprisingly, hit back hard on Monday, opposing the rushed filter team setup and arguing that the memos Comey shared with his lawyers weren’t classified at the time.
They didn’t hold back, declaring, “In short, there is no good faith basis for attributing criminal conduct to either Mr. Comey or his lead defense counsel,” calling the conflict claim baseless and defamatory.
That’s a bold counterpunch, but one has to wonder if this is more about deflecting from the serious felony charges Comey faces, which were filed just last month.
Adding fuel to the fire, Comey’s team is challenging the appointment of acting U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan, installed last month after the interim attorney resigned under pressure to indict Comey and another official.
With Halligan’s appointment coming mere days before a grand jury indicted Comey, his lawyers are gearing up to file a motion to dismiss the case, alleging vindictive prosecution.
While prosecutors aim for early wins in a case set for fresh scrutiny this week, one can’t help but sense a whiff of political theater—yet the charges against Comey remain a serious matter that deserves a fair, not rushed, legal process.
