Ahead of Wednesday’s arraignment of former FBI Director James Comey in Virginia, the Department of Justice has added two assistant U.S. attorneys from out of state to work on the case.
Two prosecutors who normally practice in the Eastern District of North Carolina entered their appearances in the Comey case Tuesday afternoon.
Comey was indicted last month by a grand jury that heard evidence from Lindsey Halligan, the newly installed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, after President Donald Trump ousted the former U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, who sources said had expressed doubts internally about bringing the case.
The former FBI head has denied the charges.
Halligan, Trump’s handpicked replacement to lead the office despite having no experience as a prosecutor, presented evidence to the grand jury on her own and has had trouble finding support within the office to prosecute the case, sources have told ABC News.
Comey was charged with making a false statement and obstruction related to his testimony on the FBI’s Russia investigation before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. The charges came just days after Trump issued a public demand for his Justice Department to act “now” to bring prosecutions against Comey and other political foes.
As ABC News has previously reported, sources say the Comey case has thrown the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia into turmoil following Siebert’s firing, the controversial decision to charge Comey against the recommendation of career prosecutors, and the subsequent firing of two top prosecutors in the office.
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