Lawyers for James Comey told a federal judge in Alexandria on Tuesday that they plan to file a motion early next week to formally dismiss his criminal case, citing what they argued is President Donald Trump’s ‘unlawful’ appointment of former White House aide Lindsey Halligan as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia shortly before Comey’s indictment.

The filing is part of a broader effort by Comey’s legal team to have the criminal case tossed. His lawyers told the judge overseeing the case last week they planned a separate motion to dismiss the case on grounds of vindictive prosecution.

Tuesday’s filing is not a formal motion but a notice to the court that they plan to challenge Halligan’s appointment as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District. Doing so will require an ‘out-of-district judge’ to hear the motion, as they noted in the filing.

The move is part of a broader salvo from Comey’s legal team to have his criminal case tossed, amid what they say is a politically motivated effort pursued by a lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, who formerly worked as Trump’s personal lawyer and White House aide.

Trump in September announced he would install Halligan as the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing interim attorney Erik Siebert who resigned under pressure to indict both Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Comey’s lawyers previously suggested that Halligan’s appointment, three days before his indictment, could strengthen their motion to dismiss.

‘We think that’s an unlawful appointment,’ Comey’s lawyers said. 

Comey’s criminal case has emerged as a political lighting rod, punctuating years of public broadsides and quietly simmering tensions between Trump and his onetime FBI director, whom he fired in 2017, less than halfway through Comey’s ten-year tenure as FBI director.

Comey used his memoir, ‘A Higher Loyalty,’ and subsequent public appearances to take umbrage against Trump and publicly criticize the actions he took during his first term. Trump has continued to assail Comey and scrutinize his tenure at the FBI, including by reportedly pressing for the investigation and empaneling of a grand jury. 

Halligan ultimately secured the indictment from a grand jury in Alexandria just days before the statute of limitations ran out in bringing the case.

Halligan, a former insurance attorney in Florida, has said that the charges against Comey ‘represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.’  

‘No one is above the law,’ she told reporters last month.

While the indictment drew praise from some Trump officials and allies, it also prompted criticism from others, who said the case shows the lengths Trump is willing to go to punish perceived political foes.

The notice from Comey’s lawyers was not the only significant development in his case this week.

Hours earlier, the federal judge assigned to his case, Judge Michael Nachmanoff, rejected the Justice Department’s request to limit Comey’s access to ‘protected’ discovery materials being used by prosecutors in the criminal case. 

Nachmanoff said in an order that the government is obligated to share with Comey and his lawyers the discovery materials in the case, including those designated as ‘protected.’

Blocking Comey’s access to these materials would ‘unnecessarily hinder and delay’ his ability to prepare for his criminal case, he said.

‘Protective orders addressing the confidentiality and privacy interests of others should not override a defendant’s right to a fair trial,’ Nachmanoff added.

Further, he said, the government’s proposed order ‘does not sufficiently define the information constituting ‘Protected Material,’ thereby making it overbroad.’

The order resolves, for now, one of several public skirmishes that have emerged in the days since Comey was indicted last month in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, on one count of allegedly making a false statement to Congress during a Senate hearing in 2020, and one count of obstruction connected to the same event.

At issue most recently was whether Comey, the former FBI director who was fired by Trump during his first White House term in 2017, should be granted access to certain discovery materials in his criminal case. 

Halligan asked the judge to restrict his access to discovery materials, citing their sensitive nature and concern about them remaining in the hands of defendants.

She argued the action has long precedent in the Eastern District of Virginia — the Alexandria-based federal court where many national security and intelligence cases are tried — calling it a ‘common practice.’

Comey’s lawyers filed their objection almost immediately. 

They argued that Comey is a Virginia-licensed attorney who himself is ‘admitted to practice law in the Eastern District of Virginia,’ and who has already ‘been entrusted with some of the most sensitive and highly guarded information in the country,’  including during the Bush administration, when he served as the Deputy Attorney General  and as FBI director — a role he held for nearly four years before Trump fired him in his first White House term.

‘To assert now, that he cannot be trusted with receiving discovery in his case controverts his long career of distinguished government service at the highest levels,’ his lawyers said. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced a global effort to nominate President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize as phase one of the recent Middle East peace agreement goes into effect.

‘I’m proud to tell you that together with my friend, Speaker Ohana of the Israeli Knesset, the equivalent of our Congress, we’re going to embark upon a project together to rally speakers and presidents of parliaments around the world so that we will jointly nominate President Donald J. Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize,’ Johnson said Tuesday. ‘No one has ever deserved that prize more, and that is an objective fact.’

He made the announcement during his daily government shutdown news conference on the 14th day of the ongoing fiscal standoff between Democrats and Republicans.

Johnson opened the press conference praising Trump for helping strike the deal that is aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

‘There will be more to share on this in the weeks ahead, but today marks the start of this effort that we’ll embark upon together, this joint parliamentary project,’ he said.

‘And I’m honored to do it alongside our ally and my counterpart in Israel in leading that effort.’

Trump was in Egypt on Monday for the signing of the historic peace deal alongside other world leaders from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Both Israel and Hamas also began taking the first steps of the peace process by releasing people held by their respective sides. All 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas were released, while Israel began releasing Palestinian prisoners it held within its own borders.

Trump has received praise from both sides of the aisle for his role in the U.S.-brokered agreement.

‘I thought it was remarkable. I saw a video last night of one of the released hostages who made the point that as soon as the election was held in November in the United States, Hamas began to treat him and his fellow hostages much better,’ Johnson said. 

‘They fed them better. They respected them more. They changed the tone of how they treated them. They no longer spit upon them. As he said in his own words, elections have consequences.’

Congressional Democrats from Maryland and Virginia warned on Tuesday that they would sue over the administration’s planned firings and threats of no back pay for furloughed workers.

Both have been used as pressure points by the White House to get Senate Democrats to budge from their dug-in position and vote to reopen the government, but until late last week, no direct action had been taken.

Late last month, the OMB circulated a memo that there would be reductions in force (RIFs) beyond the typical furloughs during a government shutdown. It had remained a threat until last week, when OMB Director Russ Vought announced on X on the 10th day of the shutdown, ‘The RIFs have begun.’ 

Flash forward to Day 14, and Senate Democrats from Maryland and Virginia, states home to tens of thousands of federal employees, showed no signs of caving from their shutdown position despite the firings.

‘When they tell you when they tell you that the shutdown is making them fire these federal employees, do not believe it for a moment,’ Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said. ‘That is a big lie. It is a big fat lie. It is also illegal. And we will see them in court.’

The lawmakers also railed against threats that furloughed federal workers would not receive back pay. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that roughly 750,000 nonessential federal employees could be furloughed, and their estimated back pay could cost up to $400 million per day.

The threat runs counter to a law President Donald Trump signed in 2019 that required furloughed workers to receive back pay in future shutdowns.

‘The idea that he doesn’t understand that everybody has to get paid back shows maybe how short his memory span is, or how [he] arbitrarily wants to pick and choose,’ Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

While the lawmakers threatened actions in the courts, Rob Shriver, who formerly served as acting director of the Office of Personnel Management under the Biden administration before taking a position at the non-profit legal services and public policy research organization Democracy Forward, said that a lawsuit was already in motion.

‘As soon as Russ Vought tweeted on Friday, we were on our way back to court to file an emergency motion to stop those unlawful RIFs right in their tracks,’ Shriver said. ‘A hearing on that motion is tomorrow, and no matter what happens, we will continue to fight these illegal RIFs.’

Still, despite the threats from the administration, there has been little progress toward reopening the government. The Senate will again vote on House Republicans’ continuing resolution (CR) Tuesday night, which has so far failed seven times. Both sides are firmly rooted in their positions.

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., want a firm deal in place to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies before open enrollment begins on Nov. 1, while Senate Republicans argue that they are open to negotiating a deal only after the government reopens.

And the actions and threats from the Trump administration appeared to only further steel Democrats’ resolve on the issue.

‘The message we have today is very simple, very simple,’ Van Hollen said. ‘Donald Trump and Russ Vought: stop attacking federal employees. Stop attacking the American people and start negotiating to reopen the federal government and address the looming healthcare crisis that is upon us.’

The Trump administration is seeking to cool tensions between the U.S. and China, after Beijing unveiled plans to impose export controls on rare-earth magnets and after the U.S. threatened more stringent tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation. 

Rare-earth elements are used in products such as electric cars, household appliances, lithium batteries and camera lenses — and are critical to national security because the magnets are key components in many weapons systems.

The export controls directly affect the defense supply chain since the magnets are used in F-35 fighter jets, Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, Tomahawk missiles and radar systems, among other platforms.

A Virginia-class submarine is outfitted with more than 9,200 pounds of rare-earth elements, while F-35 fighter jets contain more than 900 pounds, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

China plays a critical role in producing these elements. It is responsible for mining roughly 60% of the world’s rare earth minerals and processing nearly 90% as of 2024, according to CSIS.

China unveiled plans Thursday to expand export controls to include five additional rare-earth metals — holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium — adding to seven previously restricted in April.

Gracelin Baskaran, the director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS, said that the export controls will require all foreign companies to secure Chinese approval to export magnets that contain even small amounts of rare earth elements from China, or were made using Chinese technology. 

‘China’s new rules mark its toughest move yet against the defense sector. Beginning December 1, 2025, firms linked to foreign militaries – including the United States – will be largely denied export licenses,’ Baskaran said in a Monday email to Fox News Digital. 

China said that it imposed the new restrictions due to national security concerns, claiming that the rare-earth elements have ‘dual-use properties for both civilian and military applications,’ according to a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. 

China’s plans are testing relations between the U.S. and China, following a few months of relative calm between the two. But China’s announcement received pushback from Republicans and Democrats serving on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, who are pushing for action to penalize China.

Committee chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said in a Thursday statement that the new export controls amount to ‘an economic declaration of war,’ and that every American would suffer. 

‘China has fired a loaded gun at the American economy, seeking to cut off critical minerals used to make the semiconductors that power the American military, economy, and devices we use every day including cars, phones, computers, and TVs,’ Moolenaar said in a statement. 

Moolenaar sent a letter to Trump in September urging him to act against China’s dominance in rare-earth magnets and to consider limiting Chinese airline access to U.S. and allied airports until Beijing lifts the restrictions.

Ranking member of the committee, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., also said that the U.S. must find alternatives so the country doesn’t depend so much on China for the magnets. 

‘The United States and allies must redouble efforts to diversify supply sources, strengthen partnerships, and invest in domestic processing to reduce our reliance on the Chinese Communist Party for essential minerals,’ Krishnamoorthi said in a Friday statement. 

In response to China, the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese goods by 100% and warned he might cancel his meeting later in October with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Even so, Trump attempted to defuse the situation Sunday, and chalked up Beijing’s plans to impose new export controls to a ‘bad moment.’ 

‘Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment,’ Trump said in a Sunday social media post. ‘He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!’

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said Monday that it ‘firmly rejects’ new U.S. restrictions and sanctions against Beijing, and will ‘do what is necessary to protect its legitimate rights and interests.’ 

‘Threatening high tariffs is not the right way to deal with China,’ the Chinese Embassy said in a Monday social media post. ‘The U.S. should correct its approach and act on the common understandings the two presidents reached in their phone calls.’ 

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that the U.S. was not given a heads up on the increased export controls, and said that China ‘deferred’ a call from the U.S. on the matter after Washington learned about the move from public sources. 

However, China and the U.S. upping the ante in their trade war hasn’t totally derailed talks between the two countries. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the U.S. and China engaged in ‘substantial communications’ over the weekend, and that Trump and Xi’s meeting in October is still expected. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips and Alex Schemmel contributed to this report. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is seeking testimony from former special counsel Jack Smith about what he says were Smith’s ‘partisan and politically motivated’ prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

Jordan told Smith on Tuesday in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to schedule an interview with his committee by Oct. 28. The move comes at the same time congressional Republicans have been raising alarm over the recent revelation that Smith subpoenaed phone records of sitting senators.

‘As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement,’ Jordan wrote.

Jordan’s request comes amid Republicans intensifying their focus on Smith, who brought criminal charges against Trump over the 2020 election and classified documents but later dropped them because of a Justice Department policy that advises against prosecuting sitting presidents.

The request to appear for a transcribed interview marks the first instance of Congress summoning Smith after the former special counsel spent more than two years investigating and prosecuting Trump. The president has repeatedly targeted Smith, referring to him as ‘deranged,’ a ‘thug’ and a ‘sleazebag’ and calling Smith a ‘criminal’ who should be arrested.

Jordan also made a broad request for all records from Smith on his work related to Trump. If Smith were to resist the requests for an interview and documents, Jordan could subpoena him. Fox News Digital reached out to Smith’s lawyers for comment.

The Senate is also ramping up its scrutiny of Smith. Last week, 18 Senate Republicans, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded that the DOJ and FBI release documents on Smith’s decision to subpoena phone companies for toll records of eight Senate Republicans, material that could be protected by grand jury rules.

The senators said they had ‘serious constitutional concerns’ about the subpoenas and that the DOJ should ask courts to unseal the records if needed. Seeking toll records is a routine part of an investigation and sheds light on when calls were placed and to whom. They do not provide any details about the contents of phone calls or messages.

Jordan called the subpoenas and his recent discovery that the FBI monitored Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., before seizing his phone ‘abusive surveillance.’

Jordan also raised numerous other concerns he said he had with Smith’s probes, including the controversial execution of a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in 2022 to seize boxes that allegedly contained classified material. Jordan also took issue with a gag order Smith sought against Trump in court after prosecutors raised concerns that threats Trump’s targets were receiving were a result of the president’s rhetoric.

‘These actions undermined the integrity of the criminal justice system and violated the core responsibility of federal prosecutors to do justice,’ Jordan wrote.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday to sit for an interview about what he said were Smith’s ‘partisan and politically motivated’ prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

Jordan told Smith in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to schedule the closed-door testimony with his committee by Oct. 28. The move comes at the same time congressional Republicans have been raising alarm over the recent revelation that Smith subpoenaed phone records of sitting senators.

‘As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement,’ Jordan wrote.

Jordan’s request comes amid Republicans intensifying their focus on Smith, who brought criminal charges against Trump over the 2020 election and classified documents but later dropped them because of a Justice Department policy that advises against prosecuting sitting presidents.

The request to appear for an interview marks the first instance of Congress summoning Smith after the former special counsel spent more than two years investigating and prosecuting Trump. The president has repeatedly referred to Smith as ‘deranged,’ a ‘thug’ and a ‘sleazebag’ and said Smith is a ‘criminal’ who should be arrested.

Jordan also made a broad request for all records from Smith on his work related to Trump. If Smith were to resist the requests for an interview and documents, Jordan could subpoena him. Fox News Digital reached out to Smith’s lawyers for comment.

The Senate is also ramping up its scrutiny of Smith. Last week, 18 Senate Republicans, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded that the DOJ and FBI release documents on Smith’s decision to subpoena phone companies for toll records of eight Senate Republicans, material that could be protected by grand jury rules.

The senators said they had ‘serious constitutional concerns’ about the subpoenas and that the DOJ should ask courts to unseal the records if needed. Seeking toll records is a routine part of an investigation and sheds light on when calls were placed and to whom. They do not provide any details about the contents of phone calls or messages.

Jordan called the subpoenas and his recent discovery that the FBI monitored Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., before seizing his phone ‘abusive surveillance.’