A federal grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey in September on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding — a development that conservatives say was long overdue. Comey entered a plea of not guilty on October 8, and now there’s already a twist in the case.
Comey’s legal problems appear to be just getting started. Federal prosecutors are now moving to have his defense attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, removed from the case, citing a potential conflict of interest.
BREAKING: Prosecutors signal they may seek to oust Patrick Fitzgerald as James Comey's defense atty in false-statement/obstruction case. Fitzgerald's role in 2017 disclosure of Comey memos to media could be insurmountable conflict, feds say. w/@kyledcheney https://t.co/qJ8rmnuQ82
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) October 20, 2025
Federal prosecutors signaled Sunday that they may seek to boot Patrick Fitzgerald, James Comey’s lead defense attorney, because of Fitzgerald’s alleged involvement in disclosures to the media shortly after President Donald Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017.
In a submission Sunday evening, prosecutors suggested to U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff that Fitzgerald, Comey’s lawyer and close friend, could have an insurmountable conflict of interest as a result of the disclosures.
Fitzgerald previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and was appointed by Comey himself in 2003 as the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case involving Valerie Plame. In 2017, Fitzgerald joined Comey’s legal team — a move that now raises serious questions about conflicts of interest and insider protection.
Federal prosecutors claim that Fitzgerald is directly involved with the handling of Comey’s FBI memos following Comey’s termination.
Prosecutors Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz wrote in their filing, “Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information. This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel.”
The filing refers to a 2019 report from the Justice Department’s Inspector General, which states that Fitzgerald acted as a “middleman” to convey information from Comey to the media just days before President Trump fired him. Comey later confirmed during Senate hearings that he had asked his friend, Columbia law professor Daniel Richman, to share information with The New York Times. The Inspector General’s report indicated that some of this information was classified.
It’s the first in what is expected to be many twists as Comey’s legal case begins to evolve.
