A federal judge in Virginia rejected a Justice Department request to limit James Comey’s access to evidence in his upcoming trial on false statement and obstruction charges.
U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff denied the government’s proposed protective order, ruling it would have “unnecessarily hindered and delayed” Comey’s defense. Nachmanoff, appointed by Joe Biden, said the proposal “tipped the balance too far” against the defendant’s right to a fair trial, noting it failed to clearly define what constituted “Protected Material.”
Citing a similar 2018 ruling by Judge T.S. Ellis III in Paul Manafort’s case, Nachmanoff said prosecutors were again attempting to cast “an unnecessarily broad cloak of secrecy” over discovery. Comey’s lawyers argued that the proposed order would have covered nearly all evidence, placing their client, who once handled classified material at the highest levels, at a “severe and unnecessary disadvantage.”
Prosecutors, led by U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, said extra safeguards were warranted given the case’s high profile and Comey’s public comments, including a Substack video where he said his family was paying the “costs” of standing up to President Trump. Nachmanoff agreed jury integrity was vital but said the proposal was “insufficiently specific and excessively broad.”
Comey’s lawyers told the judge they plan to file a motion early next week to formally dismiss his criminal case, citing what they argued is President Trump’s “unlawful” appointment of Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia just before Comey’s indictment.
