U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a former President Joe Biden appointee, has been assigned to former FBI Director James Comey’s case.
A federal grand jury in Virginia formally charged former Comey on Thursday with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
Biden appointed Nachmanoff to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2021 with recommendations from Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA).
He was confirmed by a 52-46 vote in the Senate, with GOP support limited to Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME).
In a May case this year, Nachmanoff permitted the Trump administration’s CIA to fire a doctor whom MAGA had criticized for her role in the mandatory vaccination of service members.
As a magistrate judge in 2019, Nachmanoff presided over the arraignment of two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, for campaign finance violations. The pair were involved in Giuliani’s alleged efforts to find damaging information against Biden in Ukraine. Nachmanoff released them on a $1 million bond.
Before his time as a judge, Nachmanoff served as a public defender for over a decade in Virginia.
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Comey will be arraigned on the morning of Oct. 9 at an Alexandria courthouse. The former FBI Director will be represented by Patrick Fitzgerald, a former prosecutor and lawyer for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
New U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is expected to lead the prosecution against Comey after presenting the evidence to a grand jury for his indictment.
