The lead defense attorney of former FBI Director James Comey could be removed from representing Comey in his upcoming federal criminal trial if prosecutors get their way.
Lawyers filed a motion on Sunday night claiming that Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, could have a conflict of interest resulting from previous actions in which he allegedly helped leak the former FBI director’s memos to the media in 2017.
Comey was indicted by a grand jury in Sept. 2025 on two charges: one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice. His indictment stems from his remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020 about the FBI’s role in the investigation of President Donald Trump and Russian collusion.
U.S Attorney Lindsey Halligan and assistant attorneys N. Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz requested U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff for an expedited ruling on the government’s motion for the “implementation of a filter protocol” to analyze information about Fitzgerald’s alleged connection to the leak of the memos, which included classified information.
“The evidence for filter review could also inform a potential conflict and disqualification issue for the current lead defense counsel,Patrick Fitzgerald,” prosecutors said, according to court documents.
A filter protocol permits lawyers to review evidence quickly for the “identification, segregation, and disclosure of potentially protected material.” Prosecutors asserted that such a step was necessary because such protected material could prove pertinent in Comey’s trial and contain “exculpatory or inculpatory evidence relevant to the defense and the government.”
”Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information,” read court documents. The prosecution then cited the Department of Justice’s inspector general report as evidence to support its claim.
Michael Horowitz, the Inspector General at the time, claimed in his report that Comey “violated Department or FBI policy, or the terms of Comey’s FBI Employment Agreement. As described in this report, we conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement.”
Horowitz would eventually criminally refer Comey to the Department of Justice for his conduct, but the agency decided not to prosecute.
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“This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel,” read the official filing. “Some of the communications in the potentially protected material are from the same time as the focus of the DOJ OIG report. Before litigating any issue of conflict or disqualification, the parties should have access to all relevant and non-privileged information. The sooner that the potentially protected information is reviewed and filtered, the sooner the parties can make any appropriate filings with the Court.”
Comey’s lawyers are slated to file their first motions in the case on Monday and expected to request a dismissal, according to POLITICO. His trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5, 2026, at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.