A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021 has been randomly assigned to preside over the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey. U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff will oversee the case, pushed by President Donald Trump as he seeks to pressure longtime political foes. Comey faces charges of lying to Congress about whether he authorized leaks of classified material during his September 2020 testimony on the Russia election interference probe. Comey has said he is innocent and has “great confidence in the federal judicial system.” The indictment came shortly after Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his political enemies. Bondi issued a statement on Thursday saying, “No one is above the law.” Nachmanoff serves in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Comey was charged. In 2019, he handled the arraignment of Rudy Giuliani’s associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, granting their release on a hefty bond. More recently, he allowed the CIA to dismiss a doctor who had pushed for mandatory COVID vaccines, Politico reported. The former FBI chief’s arraignment is set for Oct. 9.
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