Federal Prosecutor Is Fired Amid Further Turmoil in Comey Case – The New York Times

Federal Prosecutor Is Fired Amid Further Turmoil in Comey Case

Robert K. McBride had been serving as the top deputy to Lindsey Halligan, who has continued to act as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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By Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer

Jan. 12, 2026, Updated 3:48 p.m. ET

A senior federal prosecutor in Virginia was fired after a disagreement about whether he would take charge of the Trump administration’s effort to reindict James B. Comey, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The dismissal of the prosecutor, Robert K. McBride, is the latest fallout in the Justice Department over President Trump’s effort to punish Mr. Comey, the former F.B.I. director and his longtime nemesis, whom the president blames for past investigations of his conduct.

Mr. McBride had been in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia for only a couple of months, temporarily serving as the top deputy to Lindsey Halligan after more than a decade as a federal prosecutor in Kentucky. Mr. Trump selected Ms. Halligan as the U.S. attorney after her predecessor resisted bringing charges against Mr. Comey, saying the evidence was not sufficient to warrant doing so.

Ms. Halligan was put in the job through an unusual personnel maneuver that a judge later determined was unlawful. In doing so, the judge declared that she was not a valid U.S. attorney and dismissed two high-profile cases that she had brought, charging Mr. Comey with lying to Congress and charging the New York attorney general, Letitia James, with lying on mortgage paperwork.

The administration has tried to restart the Comey prosecution and wanted Mr. McBride to lead that effort, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Mr. McBride said he could not do that while also running the prosecutor’s office as the first assistant U.S. attorney — he could do one or the other, these people said.

One person familiar with the events disputed that explanation, stating that Mr. McBride had been dismissed because he had secretly met with judges in the district to try to persuade them to appoint him as U.S. attorney. Mr. McBride, that person added, had resisted pursuing immigration-related investigations related to local jurisdictions’ sanctuary policies and drug enforcement. The person also said Justice Department leaders supported the decision to fire Mr. McBride.

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