DOJ Fires Prosecutor After He Refused to Act on Former FBI Director James Comey

Robert McBride, the first assistant U.S. attorney (second-in-command) in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, was dismissed from his position on Monday. The dismissal comes after McBride, a career prosecutor who had previously served in a U.S. attorney’s office in Kentucky, had been appointed to the deputy role in late 2025 under acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter indicated that McBride’s dismissal followed his refusal to take the lead on efforts to pursue or re-indict former FBI Director James Comey. According to a report from Reuters, McBride informed Justice Department officials that managing such a case would be difficult while also overseeing the overall operations of the office...