US Justice Department may seek disqualification of former FBI Director James Comey’s defence lawyer

October 20, 2025 10:53 PM IST First published on: Oct 20, 2025 at 10:53 PM IST

US Justice Department may seek disqualification of former FBI Director James Comey’s defence lawyer

Comey who was appointed the FBI Director in 2013 by the then-president Barack Obama, was fired by his successor, Donald trump in 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

The US Justice Department has indicated that it may try to remove Patrick Fitzgerald, the lawyer of former FBI Director James Comey from representing him. US Federal Prosecutors on Sunday, in a court filing sought the disqualification of Fitzgerald citing conflict of interest.

According to the Justice Department the two are close friends and that in 2017, when Comey was FBI chief, it was Fitzgerald who made the media disclosures. Prosecutors claimed that Comey used the lawyer “to improperly disclose classified information.”

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Conflict of interest

“This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel,” the filing said. The Justice Department asked US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff to implement a “filter team” to review evidence that could “inform a potential conflict and disqualification issue for the current lead defense counsel”.

That evidence included communications between Comey and several attorneys, including Fitzgerald, the filing said.

Comey shared classified information with attorneys

Prosecutors referred in the filing to a 2019 Justice Department inspector general report that found that Fitzgerald played a role in media disclosures in 2017 after Comey’s dismissal.

The report concluded that some information Comey shared with his attorneys was classified, but said the inspector general “found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.”

When the FBI took steps to delete the information from Fitzgerald’s computer accounts, Fitzgerald “voluntarily and promptly” cooperated with law enforcement, the report said.

Trump fired Comey in 2017

Comey who was appointed the FBI Director in 2013 by the then-president Barack Obama, was fired by his successor, Donald trump in 2017, allegedly for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

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However, others argue that Comey was fired his investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections and whether there were any links between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.

Comey who was indicted last month on charges that he made a false statement to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

DOJ goes after Trump’s opponents

The former FBI Director is one of the three prominent opponents of the US President, the Justice Department has indicted recently. The other two being John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser who became an outspoken critic and Letitia James, the New York Attorney General who filed and won a civil fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization.