Judge Assigned to Fired FBI Director James Comey’s Case

The department has not yet decided whether to seek an indictment in Virginia, where Comey lives, or shift the case to New York, where Richman resides.

Timing remains unclear, but the renewed push reflects heightened pressure inside the Trump DOJ to reopen matters the president has repeatedly called out as examples of a politicized “deep state.”

The development carries particular irony. In the earlier Mar-a-Lago documents case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, the Justice Department and FBI insisted that any document they labeled “classified” was off-limits to judicial review or disclosure to the defendant. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that classification status is whatever the executive branch’s national-security apparatus says it is.