Former FBI Director James Comey’s third indictment is in trouble, with a federal judge setting a hearing for Friday on his motion to dismiss, according to the Daily Beans’ October 28 headlines roundup and legal coverage of the case. Judge Trevor McFadden set the Friday hearing on Comey’s motion to dismiss, the roundup reported, in the latest twist in the Justice Department’s repeated efforts to prosecute the former FBI chief. Comey was charged a third time after earlier attempts faltered, according to legal commentators tracking the case, and the dismissal motion argues the prosecution cannot stand.
A pattern of courtroom setbacks
The Comey case sits within a wider pattern of recent setbacks for the department’s push to charge people President Donald Trump sees as adversaries. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Washington declined to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her January 6 testimony, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. NBC News has reported that grand juries also refused to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James three times after her first case was dismissed. The Justice Department filed a criminal information against Comey on October 5, less than two months before the Hutchinson rejection, a shift that legal analysts say suggests the department may be prioritising deadline-driven tactics over traditional indictment routes when grand jury consensus is uncertain.
What Friday could decide
If Judge McFadden grants the dismissal motion, it would mark another significant defeat for the administration’s retribution-era prosecutions and raise fresh questions about the cases’ legal foundations. If he denies it, the case proceeds toward trial — though further motions and appeals would likely follow. Either way, the hearing lands just four days before the November 3 midterms, guaranteeing the outcome will feed directly into the campaign’s closing argument about the independence of the justice system.
