The prosecution team handling the criminal case against former FBI director James Comey has undergone a change at the top, with the lead prosecutor withdrawing and being replaced by another assistant US attorney, according to a justice department court filing released Friday evening.
Matthew Petracca, who had been overseeing the case from the US attorney's office for the eastern district of North Carolina, is being replaced by Timothy Severo. The filing provided no reason for the switch, and a justice department spokesperson declined to comment on the development.
Comey faces two counts of threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce over a photograph he posted of seashells arranged in the numbers "86 47." Prosecutors say the image amounts to a threat against Trump, the 47th president. A conviction on either count carries up to ten years in prison.
The indictment came down in April 2026 for a post from the previous year. Comey responded publicly through his Substack, releasing a video in which he rejected the charges.
"This time, about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago," Comey said in the recording. "Nothing has changed with me. I am still innocent. I am still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary."
The prosecution effort marks the second attempt by the justice department to charge Comey in recent months. An earlier indictment alleging he lied to Congress was dismissed by a federal judge in Virginia, who ruled the overseeing prosecutor had been wrongfully appointed.
Legal analysts have characterized the new charges as weaker than their predecessor and reflective of broader concerns about how the department is being run. Michael Bromwich, former inspector general at the justice department, told the Guardian that the shift represents institutional decline under the current leadership.
"The descent to the bottom at DoJ has accelerated since Bondi's departure," Bromwich said, referring to the recent firing of attorney general Pam Bondi and the subsequent appointment of acting attorney general Todd Blanche.
Trump and Comey have been at odds since Trump's first presidency, when Comey led the FBI's investigation into the president's ties to Russia. Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017, roughly four years into his ten year term. Legal experts say the latest charges suggest Comey may not be the only target of renewed prosecutorial activity.
"The second indictment of Comey, a top target of Donald Trump in his quest for revenge against critics, suggests more charges could be coming against other Trump opponents as the president continues to use the department of justice to attack perceived political enemies," according to commentary from legal analysts.
The trial is scheduled to begin on October 21 in North Carolina.
Author James Rodriguez: "A prosecutor swap without explanation is never reassuring, especially when the case involves a high-profile Trump antagonist and charges that legal experts already view as thin."
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