Former FBI Director James Comey is contesting the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s designation of his personal counsel, Lindsey Halligan, as a U.S. attorney.
Comey’s action evaluates the viability of Trump’s political payback strategy, executed through the appointment of loyalist prosecutors, in a judicial context, Axios noted.
“James Comey, by counsel, will file his motion to dismiss challenging the lawfulness of the appointment of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,” Comey’s attorneys wrote.
Comey’s filing warns the court that it should prepare for an “out-of-district judge” to preside over his motion.
Comey entered a plea of not guilty last week to allegations of perjury before Congress during his testimony in 2020.
In 2017, Trump dismissed Comey following a confrontation on the FBI’s inquiry into possible connections between the president’s campaign and Russia. Trump appointed Halligan last month following the resignation of former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert.
Since assuming office, Halligan has indicted both James and Comey. A White House spokesperson informed Axios that President Trump possesses “full confidence” in Halligan.
“This is a frivolous and desperate attempt by Comey to distract from the facts of his case that even a grand jury recognized,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The federal judge assigned to oversee Comey’s criminal case is preparing to preside over what is expected to be one of the most closely watched trials of President Trump’s second term.
U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee who holds a fourth-degree black belt in Shotokan Fudokan karate—a discipline that emphasizes composure under pressure—will face intense public and political scrutiny as the proceedings unfold.
Colleagues and attorneys familiar with Nachmanoff described him in interviews with CNN as an even-tempered and disciplined jurist, well-suited to manage the high-profile nature of the Comey case and the attention it is likely to draw.
Nachmanoff, who presides in the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, held Comey’s arraignment on Wednesday morning.
The disgraced former FBI director was indicted last month on federal charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding, stemming from allegations that he lied to Congress during testimony in 2020.
Throughout his career, Nachmanoff has developed a reputation as a fair and measured jurist who is highly respected within Virginia’s legal community, according to sources who spoke with CNN.
Prior to his appointment to the federal district court, Nachmanoff served as a magistrate judge in the same Alexandria courthouse.
Legal professionals who have argued cases before Judge Michael Nachmanoff—both successfully and unsuccessfully—described him as a jurist who keeps his personal views private and is unlikely to heighten tensions surrounding the prosecution of Comey, a case that has already drawn significant public and political attention, CNN noted.
“I would call him an apolitical judge,” Kevin Carroll, a Virginia attorney who earlier this year unsuccessfully sought an emergency court order from Judge Nachmanoff to temporarily reinstate his client, a CIA physician who alleged she was forced out of her position under pressure from conservative officials, told CNN.
“The judge hasn’t brought politics into it at all,” Carroll added. “It’s just been straight legal discussion.”
Robert Jenkins, a white-collar defense attorney who has brought clients before Nachmanoff, said the judge “is committed to getting things right and making sure that justice is served.”
“When I learned about the case being assigned to him, I had a great sense that if this is just a politically motivated prosecution, he will discover the right way to deal with it, to make sure that justice is served,” Jenkins added.
By comparison, Jenkins added, “If there is some true merit to the allegations contained in the indictment, I think he will do likewise, because he is fair and committed to doing the right thing.”
A grand jury in Washington, D.C., a city overwhelmingly Democratic, returned the indictment.
Nachmanoff was among Biden’s first judicial nominees, earning bipartisan support in the Senate. He was confirmed to a lifetime appointment in 2021, with three Republican senators joining Democrats in backing his nomination.